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CHARLOTTE — Jae Crowder got a rebound with two seconds remaining on the shot clock. He stepped back and fired a corner 3-pointer from an angle that shouldn’t have allowed the shot to go in.
But it did.
It was that kind of night for Crowder. And that kind of night for the Jazz. In a game night where Utah welcomed in Kyle Korver, the Jazz showed he wasn’t the only one who could make a deep shot. The Jazz hit 18 3-pointers on their way to a 119-111 win over Charlotte at Spectrum Center Friday.
Utah got its second straight win and improved to 11-12. The Jazz are now 9-6 on the road.
Appropriately, though, the 3-point barrage started when Korver first checked into the game. Utah missed four of its first five shots from long range, but that changed when Korver stepped onto the court for his second Jazz debut. He curled around a Rudy Gobert screen, caught the ball and drilled the triple
That seemed to open the floodgates for the Jazz. Especially for Crowder.
Crowder went 6-for-10 from deep on his way to a 24-point night off the bench. But he was one of many to have success from deep. Donovan Mitchell hit two long-range shots, Rubio hit two more and Korver, himself, nailed four from deep.
And outside of Crowder’s crazy shot clock buzzer beater, most were open looks.
"What Utah didn't make inside, they made up on threes,” Charlotte coach James Borrego said. “Give them credit... They moved the ball and made shots tonight."
It was the effect the Jazz were hoping Korver would have on the offense as his mere presence opened up space for everyone else. And it led to more than just open shots from the perimeter. When Utah began connecting on their deep looks, the lanes started to be open.
Mitchell took full advantage of that. The second-year guard scored 30 points on 12-for-22 shooting and feasted on open midrange shots and layups.
The offense was so good that even Gobert had a drive. Gobert crossed over Marvin Williams, took a couple of steps and slammed it down. It wasn’t his only dunk that on the night, either. Gobert was a menace in the paint; rim rolling his way to 20 points and 17 rebounds.
Utah had one of its best starts of the season. With a crisp offense and an active defense, the Jazz took a 16-point lead at the end of the first quarter. It was a dominant display fueled by Gobert’s strong interior defense and the Jazz’s ball movement.
But Charlotte made a run and after a 3-point play by Jeremy Lamb midway through the third quarter, the Hornets had pulled things even at 64.
They weren’t even for long.
The Jazz responded with a 15-2 run and the Hornets could never truly get back into the game.
Tony Parker had a throwback performance of 20 points and nine assists as he tried to bring the Charlotte back in the fourth. The Jazz struggled to contain the former Spurs legend on the perimeter and helped the Hornets to 70 points in the paint.
"I’d like to see us contain the ball more," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
But each time the Hornets cut it close, Utah had an answer. At least on the offensive end. Whether that was yet another 3-pointer, a rim roll by Gobert, or a pull-up jumper by Mitchell, the Jazz always found a way to extend the lead.
But mostly the Jazz were trading buckets down the stretch. Something that didn't sit well for the coach or players. The Hornets scored 58 points in the second half.
“We played good defense at times,” Gobert said. “But if we want to be the team we want to be, we need to be better.”
The shooting was better, at least. And that made up for it.
Up next: Utah will finish off their three-game road trip with a game at Miami on Sunday.
