Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Keyonte George put his hand down and started to laugh, Walker Kessler couldn't stop smiling, and Jazz coach Will Hardy, meanwhile, was eager to hear how another would describe the game of Kelly Olynyk.
"The way that Kelly scores is ...," a reporter began.
"I can't wait to hear this word," a smiling Hardy jumped in.
"Uncharacteristic."
"Correct," Hardy said, but then he paused. "Well, not for Kelly."
That uncharacteristic, unorthodox, awkward game led the Utah Jazz to a 117-109 win over Miami Saturday. Olynyk, using his usual array of slow-moving drives, pump fakes and gangling layups, scored 19 points, 10 assists and six rebounds to lift the Jazz to victory.
"I'm a little bit more used to Kelly now than I was in the beginning of last year, so in some ways, nothing and everything surprises me," Hardy said. "But he's got unbelievable footwork, and his ball handling, his size, the way he uses his body and his pivoting, he ends up making plays out of nothing."
Utah played through the veteran big man a lot, giving him the ball up top or in the middle and letting him dissect the defense. In a cold shooting game (Utah shot 16.1% entering the fourth quarter), Olynyk provided just what the Jazz needed — even if it looked a bit clunky … or silly … or just downright funny.
"You get two steps and he utilizes every step that you can take, and he'll stay on that foot until he falls over on his head," George said. "Kelly, he's just having fun out there. I have fun playing with Kelly."
And maybe even more fun just watching him.
Like when Olynyk did a Euro step and practically came to a complete stop. Or when he used the ball to push away a defender to clear space. Or when he hit a leaning fadeaway jumper that jumped off the rim before falling into the basket.
No matter how strange it was, it all seemed to work — and had Kessler yelling "The Clinic!" after each weirdly-made shot.
"He's not necessarily above the rim player, so he does a really good job of getting guys in the air and getting the ball and going inside," Kessler said.
He might not need to do all that, too. The lone time Olynyk had a clean lane to hoop, he botched the layup.
When asked about his unconventional game Saturday, Olynyk laughed right along with everyone else.
"It's kind of awkward," he admitted. "It is what it is. You do what you gotta do out there. I also wish that I had a 40-inch vertical or could run a 4.2 and touch the top of the backboard running backward like Ochai (Agbaji) can, but I can not, so I've got to do other things."
Where did those other things come from? Olynyk said that it was just playing a lot of basketball and figuring out how to score over taller, more athletic, and quicker opponents.
And those other things spurred the Jazz to their fourth win in their last five games, and rescued them from a rare poor night from Lauri Markkanen (12 points on 4-for-13 shooting).
"I don't think that I would teach anyone to play like Kelly," Hardy said. "That's not because I don't like it; it's because I wouldn't know where to start."
