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SALT LAKE CITY — Keyonte George wasn't in a rhythm.
Entering the fourth quarter, he had shot just 2-of-5 from the field and had a couple of careless giveaways. Those turnovers were just bad reads — rookie mistakes against an aggressive and experienced defense.
George wasn't alone in his offensive struggles — Utah was 16.1% from 3-point range through the first three quarters, Lauri Markkanen was 3-of-12, and Jordan Clarkson was 3-of-9 — but he was the one on the court as the final quarter began.
Soon, those early miscues were a distant memory. George scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to help lift the Jazz to a 117-109 lead over the Heat. Even more: All those points came in the final six minutes of the game.
"Funk isn't the right word, but he had a little bit of a funk there early in the game … but he kept his head, continued to play hard, and made a bunch of big plays for us down the stretch," Hardy said.
The Heat went to drop pick-and-roll coverage, and George made them pay again and again. He played the entirety of the fourth quarter and made three 3-pointers in the final frame, including one with 2:25 left after the Heat had cut the Jazz lead to 2.
"I think that for him to not have the best first half with turnovers and whatnot, and then to come in the second half and have some really clutch buckets and good defensive possessions," Walker Kessler said. "He had his head on his shoulders and he was confident, and it says a lot about the kind of person he is and the confidence he has on the floor."
George said he's been getting clips of himself sent to him by player development coach Phil Becker, who has worked with Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons, among others. The clips aren't of his shotmaking or dribble drives or any other highlight; instead, Beckner sends him his body language.
"Your body definitely speaks louder than your words on the court," George said.
George said it was about staying "stone cold" and not letting the other team tell how he's feeling.
At least it was that way in the low moments — the missed shots and the turnovers. But with each made shot and 3-point celebration, there was no confusion about how George's fourth quarter was going.
"I just started being confident in myself, taking those types of shots that you can take in the flow of the game," George said. "Got some easy ones getting into fourth, and then you see a couple go through and the rim looks humongous."
And that proved big for the Jazz, too. Not only were the shots needed, but it helped open up the floor for the rest of the offense to operate.
"Our biggest fear in a game where you're not shooting the ball well from 3, the other team's defense starts to inch back a little bit," Hardy said "And then it becomes harder and harder to score in the paint, becomes harder and harder to create advantages, because they're not respecting the three ball, especially at the point of attack.
"Keyonte's development shooting 3s off the dribble is going to be massive for our program."
It certainly was massive Saturday.
