Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MINNEAPOLIS — Rudy Gobert didn't just have to contend with the pressure of making two game-deciding free throws; he also had to contend with an old teammate.
As Gobert stepped to the free-throw line, Jordan Clarkson walked between him and the basket, sporting a big smile and clapping right at the former Jazz center.
The result? Two missed free throws.
Combine that with a clutch Lauri Markkanen jumper on the other end, and the Jazz had themselves another shocker. Utah beat Minnesota 132-126 in overtime Friday at Target Center to improve to 2-0 on the early season.
"Yeah, that was part of the plan — just had to give him a little something," said Clarkson through a smile as he reminisced on the savvy tactic. "Mike (Conley), Beas (Malik Beasley), all of us were talking to him. I take a little bit of credit. Gotta knock them down."
While Clarkson's veteran move at the free-throw line can't be proven to have had a direct impact, the same can't be said about his 29 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Clarkson scored 23 of his points in the second half and overtime as the Jazz overcame a 17-point first-half deficit to stun Gobert and the Timberwolves.
"JC is finding ways to just stay the course," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "He's in a different role this year than he has been the last couple of years, and that's an adjustment. That's no small thing what he's doing. He's playing with a lot of different players, and so he's finding his shots and his spots a little bit differently than he has in the past."
And he's finding teammates, too.
Instead of endless search dribbles looking for his own shot, Clarkson probed the defense and passing out. And he's far from alone. The Jazz had seven individuals finish with three or more assists. As a team, they finished with 39 assists on 49 made field goals.
"The guys are bought into our spacing, and every day we work on the reads of our offense and where their outlets are," Hardy said. "They're all bought into the fact that we have a lot of guys with this team again that can dribble, pass and shoot."
That unselfishness allowed Utah to overcome a 15-3 start from Minnesota to claw back into the game.
The Jazz started the half on a 16-4 run to take a lead. From there, it was a back-and-forth battle between the scrappy underdog team from Utah and a Timberwolves squad that is expecting to do some big things this season.
At the end, it was two Utah players who probably wanted a couple plays back that ended up making the winning plays.
Conley asked if he was a meme yet as he walked out of the locker room following the game. He knew that it had to have looked bad. In the closing seconds of regulation, D'Angelo Russell drove on Conley, and as he crossed over Conley slipped on the court, sending him sliding away as Russell calmly banked in the game-tying bucket.
"It happens to the best of us," Conley said.
In overtime, though, it was Conley that helped push the Jazz over the finish line. He hit a 3-pointer that gave Utah a 2-point lead with just over a minute remaining. On the ensuing Wolves possession, Conley came soaring in to foul Gobert to stop what would have been a for-sure dunk, and set up Gobert's final misses.
Markkanen finished off the Wolves by rolling in a short jumper to push the Utah lead to four in the final seconds of overtime. It was a bit of redemption after he missed a potential game winner at the end of regulation.
"You never know when the ball is gonna find you. … Glad I was able to knock that down," said Markkanen, who had 24 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
And the Jazz were awfully glad their old friend wasn't able to knock his free throws down at the end.
"We needed those, Rudy. Thank you," Clarkson said." I love you, but I'll take those two."
