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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz got booed off their home court (multiple times, even) during a Game 3 loss to the Dallas Mavericks Thursday.
The Jazz are now down 2-1 in the series, have lost two straight and have failed to take advantage of a wounded Dallas squad. So the comment section feels like it'll be a safe and reasonable place, right? Let's find out.
"Their body language is atrocious! They would rather be golfing and you can tell. Call in the tee times. Dallas about to send us home for the summer" — PowellBound
Four years ago Thursday, Ricky Rubio was serenaded by a sunset-colored crowd. Rubio's famed triple-double in Game 3 in the 2018 first round against Oklahoma City felt like the beginning of something.
The Jazz had a rising star, a rising coach, and a towering defensive force grouped together with a bunch of lovable veterans that captivated the state. That young Utah squad bested a team full of perennial All-Stars, welcoming in a new era of Jazz basketball in the process.
It was an era that looked to have unlimited potential. When the team eventually lost in five games to the Houston Rockets, thousands of fans lined up at the airport to welcome them back home.
There was excitement, buzz and hope. Four years later, there were boos.
"We're too young to have a ceiling," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said after Dallas beat Utah in Game 3 "... They love to play the game together. They share the ball, they make the right basketball plays, and they really cheer for one another."
That's a quote that could have come from Snyder four years ago, but not on Thursday. If you're brave enough to re-watch Game 3, take a peek at each team's bench. The Mavs were constantly standing, cheering and involved in every part of the game. That goes for everybody — two-way players, non-active guys, and the injured Luka Doncic.
The Jazz? It couldn't have been more different. Aside from a few moments, players sat quietly, waiting (hoping?) for something good to happen.
That wasn't just a Game 3 thing either. It's been a constant throughout the entire series.
Do the Jazz want to win? Of course. A team doesn't go through an entire grind of a regular season to reach this moment and choose not to care. But it's crazy the team talking about the need to up its intensity level following Game 3 — how can that be the case? The players didn't have any good answers.
Still, it's a 2-1 series and a Utah win in Game 4 can change the narrative — at least for a time.
"It's in no way, shape or form over," Mike Conley said. "No one is thinking that."
Maybe not in the locker room. Outside of it …?
Four years ago, it felt like the beginning. On Thursday, it felt like things were about to come to an end.
"Yeah at this point I think I would just prefer them to lose the next 2 games. I want to see this team blown up this offseason, cause they are burnt toast. The least fun team to watch in probably the last decade of Jazz basketball." — ashtree
There were new signs reading "Embrace the Noise" adorned on the walls surrounding the front entrance of Vivint Arena. It was meant as a fun playoff moniker about Utah's famed playoff crowd; it was more symbolic of this team, in general.
There's been a lot of things rustling in the background — and there have been for two calendar years now.
Here's a shortlist: COVID-19 and the "unsalvageable" reports, losing a 3-1 series lead in the bubble, last year's playoff collapse to the LA Clippers, veiled remarks in the media, reports of Quin Snyder being a candidate elsewhere, and the near-constant speculation about a team split due to the relationship between Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
Players have shot down all reports of any sort of division, and repeatedly said they had to simply "block out the noise." It's becoming evident they've never been unable to do that, and this year has been a constant slog because of it. They've played joyless basketball for the better part of six months. Any hope of that changing in the playoffs has all but disappeared.
This was a team that was brought together to contend for a title. Outside of a magical regular season last year — which was likely COVID-19-aided (Snyder himself said that he didn't think they were the best team; they just had the best record) — they've never looked like a true challenger for the NBA throne.
They embraced the noise in all the wrong ways.
But there's good news for you, ashtree: The Jazz have a much better track record of folding in tough situations than of responding; it likely will be over soon.
"Wowsa, home advantage to boot!! Luka will probably play next game and it could be lights out." — Joshua C.
OK, let's get weird.
It's true that Dallas has taken Utah away of what it does best. The Jazz have just 54 assists on 113 made field goals, and Dallas' constant switching has made it hard for Utah to find quality shots outside of isolation. There's been no "blender," pick and rolls have been blown up and the Jazz have really struggled to generate good looks from deep.
The Athletic's Seth Partnow found an interesting stat following Game 3:
Using a rough definition of self-creation being any shot with > 2 seconds of touch time, 65,8% of Utah's shots have been self-created through 3 games of this series. Sub-optimal (and credit has to go to Dallas of course).
— Anchorage Man (@SethPartnow) April 22, 2022
The Jazz are relying on players going isolation against a team that doesn't have that many weak links on the perimeter.
On the other end, the Mavericks are shooting more 3s than they they did in the regular season, and have been much more lethal in transition — partially because of an emphasis to fire up 3s in transition.
"Luka plays at a different pace," Jason Kidd said before Game 3.
With Doncic, the Mavericks might run less. And might get up a few less 3s. And might give the Jazz someone to target on drives to the hoop. And, well, this might be the craziest thought ever. Yep, we're talking about an arguably top 5 player returning and it benefiting Utah. That's how you know things have gotten pretty desperate.
Something that's worth asking, too, is how inclined will the Mavericks be to bring Doncic back in Game 4?
A Jalen Brunson-led Dallas squad has shown it's more than capable of beating the Jazz. So it might make some sense to keep him out a bit longer — or at least until Utah proves it is capable of landing a counter punch.
