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SALT LAKE CITY — The Jazz have slowed down every game little by little. Their effort has lacked and it seemed like the All-Star break couldn't come quick enough. Then the Jazz welcomed a cure for what ailed them — the defending champion Miami Heat.
The Jazz welcomed the champions, came out of the blocks fast and held on to get one of their biggest wins of the season. Marvin Williams came out hot to give the Jazz energy and a 12-point first-quarter lead, and the Jazz did enough for the last three quarters fighting tired legs and great players to get the win.
The Utah Jazz don't have the talent to come from behind against almost any team. This was clear in their loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. However, when they can get a lead they are able to hold on. A common theme in coach Tyrone Corbin's post-game media interactions is the idea of energy.
“After last night to come back against a team like Miami and give the effort that we gave I'm just really pleased and appreciative of effort and focus the guys came with tonight,” Corbin said.
The Jazz have scored more than 30 points in the first quarter a few times this season. This was the first time on the second night of a back-to-back. Finding energy in the midst of a four-game losing streak while a lot of your players are starting to fatigue isn't easy, but this young team was able to pull it off.
The Jazz needed to establish their game plan early and bring effort or risk being blown out of the gates.
“I think that's what we tried to do,” Williams said. “We wanted to come out and establish ourselves early. Just play with more effort. We didn't give the effort last night (against Dallas), and I think each and every one of us wanted to come out with more effort tonight, so we did it from the jump.”
The game didn't start great for the Jazz. Using a boxing term, both teams were feeling each other out and exchanging jabs. Through the first half of the quarter, the teams were even at 14-14. Then the Jazz started to make their move.
From the seven-minute mark and on, the Jazz outscored the Heat 18-6. The run included all the starters other than Gordon Hayward being subbed out. In the past, these adjustments have caused troubles. The team would lose its offense and its defense would be a little slow to rotate.
In this game, the Jazz were able to keep their momentum going with substitutions and extend the lead that allowed them to win the game. This was a team victory. Williams hit the big shots and ended the night with 23 points, but there were a lot of great players that provided help despite a seemingly low stat-line.
Diante Garrett has quietly established himself as a player for the Jazz. While Trey Burke has started to hit the rookie wall, Garrett has been able to give big minutes. He came in with four minutes left in the first and just played his game. He brings energy and defense while not requiring shots.
“I try to bring in the energy every night,” Garrett said. “You always want a guy who is coming off the bench with a lot of energy and just running the squad.”
Garrett played a marvelous game, despite scoring no points, taking no shots, getting no rebounds and ending with a zero plus/minus while he was on the court. His only stats of report were two assists and a steal.
The Heat are the team of superstars, and the Jazz don't have one. This isn't a story about a team beating players, because the Heat have done it twice and the Jazz are struggling to find their way. This is a story about what happens when the Jazz come out and play with great effort.
This doesn't happen every night, the young Jazz are trying to figure out how to bring it every game. Most teams, young or old, struggle to come out strong every night, but the Jazz have struggled with effort, especially over the last few weeks.
“You've got to go through those heartbreaks in order to learn,” Richard Jefferson said. “That's what we did. It's going to be a full season of this, we understand that, but we have a lot of faith in what we're trying to accomplish, and it's continuing.”
Winning the first is important. For the Jazz it was the difference between winning and losing, because the Jazz needed all those points to hold on for the victory. However the most important part was setting the tone on the court, not the scoreboard.
When the Jazz start the game unafraid they can play with anyone. Sometimes the Jazz get behind and seem to get a little down on themselves. Saturday night the Jazz won the first quarter and showed the Heat that they were not afraid and were able to play with the best of the best.
