Jazz find some belief with blowout win over Grizzlies

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SALT LAKE CITY — About two hours before Wednesday's game, Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy said four games wasn't nearly enough to know much about his team.

Utah's defense had been atrocious — the worst in the league by a fair amount — but it had also played some of the best offenses in the league.

The team's chemistry and guard play had been lacking — was that a sign of long-term problem, or just a new team coming together?

It was too early to make any definitive statements.

"If we were 4-0, I wouldn't be sitting here thinking we were the best team in the NBA either," Hardy said.

Five games still isn't enough to get a clear picture, but Wednesday's game provided a litmus test of sorts. If the Jazz couldn't handle the woeful, undermanned and winless Memphis Grizzlies, there may be some long-term issues afloat.

Turns out, they could — and then some.

The Jazz (2-3) made easy work of the visiting Grizzlies (0-5), cruising to an easy 133-109 win Wednesday at the Delta Center.

Utah led by double-digits six minutes into the game, had a 23-point lead after the first quarter, and took a 33-point lead into the break.

The offensive rhythm the Jazz found in the second half against Denver on Monday carried over. The Jazz whipped the ball around and finished with 34 assists — their 54% shooting (including 51% from deep) certainly helped that number. It was good basketball.

Did Memphis help Utah look good? Sure did. The Grizzlies were bad Wednesday — really bad. The team shot 36% from the field and looked discombobulated on both sides of the court for long portions of the game.

The Jazz deserve some credit for that, but a lot of it was Memphis struggling to play without Ja Morant, Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke.

Regardless, it was a much-needed result for a Jazz team that is still coming into its own.

"Belief is a very real thing," Hardy said. "And I think having a really good result like this, as a team, early in the season, it does help add to the belief. It does help build the trust amongst the group that we are on the right track and that we are capable of playing really good basketball."

The Jazz have been in experiment mode a bit, throwing different lineups out and trying to find the best roles for each player. Those experiments haven't always produced the wanted results. Getting up on a team by 30 in the first half — no matter how injured or poor its playing — brings some confidence that things are heading in the right direction.

"You talk about it and you try to envision it, and you work on things in practice, but until you play really well in a game on the court in a game in front of the fans when it matters, there is that element of doubt like can we play to that level?" Hardy said. "So tonight's big."

Collin Sexton, playing in more of an off-ball role (add that to the experimentation) led Utah with 23 points and six assists. Jordan Clarkson had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists; and Lauri Markkanen finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Good numbers, yes, but more importantly, the Jazz gained some belief.

"You need a game like this every once in a while to know that what we're doing is working," said Kelly Olynyk, who was an eye-popping plus-38 Wednesday. "It's like stay with it, trust it, be patient a little bit because it's coming. It's coming. It's going to come together, It's gonna click, you can kind of get on a roll here."