The Triple Team: 3 thoughts on Jazz vs. Heat


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SALT LAKE CITY — Three thoughts on the Jazz's 111-110 loss to the Miami Heat from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. Refereeing questions at the end of this one

It probably shouldn't have been a close game in the first place, but thanks to the Jazz's performance, the whole game came down to the final minute. Then, a couple of controversial things happened.

Gordon Hayward missed a shot with about 30 seconds left, and the Heat got the rebound. The official play-by-play says that the rebound happened at the 27.9 mark. The Jazz chose not to foul, betting they could successfully defend the possession (as they did). Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout. At that time, the game clock showed 13.2, and the shot clock showed 8 seconds.

Now, the shot clock showing 8 seconds can mean anywhere from 8.0 to 8.9 seconds left on the actual shot clock. However, even if it's 8.9 seconds left, a shot clock violation would have meant a minimum of 4.3 seconds showing on the clock when the Jazz had possession. In other words, the official play-by-play and what the clock showed at Miami's timeout can't both be true at the same time.

Here's the final Heat possession of tonight's game: pic.twitter.com/Evd5RnuBUT — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) December 2, 2016

However, it appears a shot clock violation wasn't called, and in fact, the referees ruled that Hayward stole the ball and Ingles had acquired possession of the ball before the buzzer rang. That would have meant no shot clock violation, and 3.9 seconds were the approximate time when Ingles called the timeout.

The Jazz asked the referees to review the play, but they said that they had the call and timing right. After the game, through the pool reporter process, I asked crew chief Ed Malloy this question:

> NBA Referee Ed Malloy Comment to Pool Reporter after Heat-Jazz game: [pic.twitter.com/6afUkK8kgV](https://t.co/6afUkK8kgV) > > — NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) [December 2, 2016](https://twitter.com/NBAOfficial/status/804560973248032768)

Anyway, on the clock, there were 3.9 seconds left for this play:

Here is the controversial final play of the Jazz/Heat game: pic.twitter.com/Ydlcu63F8X — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) December 2, 2016

It's actually a nice play design, Hayward gets the ball curling into the paint for a good look that doesn't go down. Three questions to look at in these few seconds:

  • Was Hayward fouled in the back during the shot? Maybe, but it's not clear from the video.
  • Was Joe Johnson fouled while attempting to go for the rebound? This one appears to be an unequivocal yes: Tyler Johnson appears to pull down Joe Johnson's arm, preventing him from going up and getting the rebound. I asked Malloy to clarify why a foul was not called on this play, but Malloy declined to answer that question.
  • If there had been more time on the clock, would Rudy Gobert's putback had counted? This one is more unclear, and it depends how much time was on the clock. 1.2 more seconds is almost certainly enough, but 0.3? It's less clear.
Again, had the Jazz been one point better for the rest of the game, this play wouldn't have been important. They weren't, and it was. We'll follow up on the situation.

2. Jazz's defense pretty ugly throughout

Regardless of what happened on the final play, allowing 111 points to the Miami Heat at home, in a game where they started Rodney McGruder, Luke Babbitt, and Josh McRoberts is borderline irresponsible. Yes, the Jazz have massive injury woes, but in my opinion still had better talent coming into the game.

But the Jazz couldn't stop the Heat from getting in the paint. The Heat had 64 points in the paint tonight, compared to just 30 from the Jazz. The Heat got 58 field goal attempts in the paint, compared to just 27 for the Jazz. It's ugly.

The Jazz really missed George Hill tonight. None of Dante Exum, Shelvin Mack, or even Raul Neto (who played!) could really stay in front of Goran Dragic. And then the Jazz allowed 24 points from James Johnson and 17 points from Wayne Ellington, which is extremely disappointing, and a sign that they also missed Rodney Hood's defense as well.

"We were soft at the beginning of the game and we didn’t deserve to win the game. Miami outplayed us," Snyder said. "By the time we woke up defensively, it was late and we had to expend a lot of energy."

3. Joe Johnson's impact

Joe Johnson's game doesn't look like it should fit in the Jazz's scheme, and a lot of times, it seems like Johnson goes outside of the system to find shots. There's a lot of post-up plays from way outside the nearest block, and the rest of the floor kind of clears out and lets Iso-Joe do his thing.

But here's what does work: Johnson's 3-point shooting. Johnson is fantastic at catching the ball cleanly and calmly firing over any opponent, always staying balanced. I haven't seen him do much pump fake and driving, but it seems like every 3 is open when Johnson so easily matches his desired shot form on every attempt.

Johnson hit four for six of his 3-point attempts tonight, pushing his 3-point shooting percentage to 44.1 percent for the year. The Jazz made 17 overall, which tied a franchise record. The last time they did, this March, they beat the Lakers by nearly 50. This game went less well.

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