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MEMPHIS — Maybe it was due to the Memphis Grizzlies feeling slighted — understandably so — by the refs. Or maybe there's something to this In-Season Tournament.
Whatever the case, there was some extra energy in the fourth quarter Friday. The Grizzlies erased a 21-point Jazz lead, and the FedEx Forum was rocking with the game all tied up with 5:49 remaining in the game.
Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson made sure Utah wouldn't completely give up the game, though.
With the Jazz hanging on to a 1-point lead as the clock ticked under two minutes, Clarkson intercepted a pass at midcourt and converted a contested layup on the other side. On the next possession, he drilled a wing 3-pointer.
And just like that, the Jazz could breathe easier.
Utah held on for a 127-121 win in its first In-Season Tournament game, and snapped a four-game losing streak in the process.
"Happy and proud of the team," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "It's been a tough stretch."
Indeed, the Jazz have had a miserable road trip, with blowout losses in each of their previous three stops. Even with that being the case, it looked like things were about to get tougher in Memphis.
A loss Friday would have been tough to stomach. Not only were the Jazz up by 21, but the Grizzlies were playing without (deep breath here) Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, Steven Adams, Derrick Rose, Xavier Tillman, and Ziaire Williams. Memphis also lost Jaren Jackson Jr. — the NBA's reigning defensive player of the year — after he was ejected for arguing a no-call.
That gripe was also pretty legitimate — as were plenty of other Memphis frustrations with the officials. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins thought it was so one-sided he went on a postgame rant about how the game was called.
With that, the Jazz had plenty of advantages when they finished up an 18-6 run with 3:36 left in the third quarter that pushed the lead over 20 points. And yet, the game still almost unraveled on them.
The team, though, saw the Grizzlies' comeback as a learning experience.The Jazz are now just 3-7 and picked up their first road win on the season. Beggars can't be choosers, and Utah was certainly begging for a win coming into Friday.
"It's a good experience," said Lauri Markkanen, who had 26 points in the win. "Obviously, it wasn't pretty. A wins a win, but we always talk about keeping our composure. We lost it in the third, but then I think we did a great job of kind of calming ourselves down, even though the crowd was going crazy.
"They made a couple of shots. It's all of a sudden tie game, but we're still kind of calm and try to go in the next possession trying to get something good. We did a good job with that in the fourth quarter, and that's gonna be huge for us moving forward — especially on the road."
Markkanen said the Jazz would have liked to have kept and built upon the lead — and with one of the In-Season Tournament tiebreakers being point differential, that would have been beneficial — but he said he'd take any chance at having a tie game in the fourth quarter on the road.
"Of course, we had a big leap, but you take that," Markkanen said.
Hardy saw the benefits of having to work through that type of situation, too. He noted how the Jazz were able to rely on Markkanen and Clarkson in the biggest moments, and how rookie point guard Keyonte George — who finished with 11 assists — showed poise when things got into crunch time.
"I think that's, obviously, a good learning moment for our young players that when the game gets hectic, especially on the road and the arena gets hectic, that we have to find a way to maintain our composure," Hardy said. "Obviously, in the third quarter, we had five turnovers in three and a half minutes, which allowed Memphis to get back into the game. But, again, I think down the stretch, a lot of guys made some big plays, a lot of poise as a group to pull out the win."
And now there's a little more juice for the rest of the In-Season Tournament. The Jazz sit atop Group A at 1-0, along with the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. They'll play Portland Tuesday; a win against the Blazers, who are just 3-5 on the season, and they may really start thinking of getting out of group play.
"Now we have some added motivation for the next In-Season Tournament," said Ochai Agbaji, who had 15 points Friday. "I'm excited. I'm excited for that one."
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