The Utah Jazz, the first to have the mathematical certainty of the NBA Playoffs, were also the last to know the opponent of their debut in the 2020-21 postseason. Play-in for eighth place in the Western Conference rewarded the Memphis Grizzlies, who entered the play-off tournament as seeded # 9 and forced to win two consecutive games to subvert the hierarchy of the draw. No sooner said than done. Ja Morant and his teammates, the great disappointed in the past, anomalous ‘Bubble’ Playoff in Orlando – given the vague qualification at the last step against the Blazers – beat, not without worries, Spurs and Warriors over three days, to sanction their participation in the Playoffs (last appearance in the 2016-17 vintage). Time to take a few pebbles off your shoe.
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— ????♂️- Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) May 22, 2021
Seasonal precedents
In an extremely complicated season to manage, between postponements and recoveries, the calendar gave Jazz and Grizzlies three face to face in less than a week, at the end of March. The most similar, at least from the point of view of the schedule, to what awaits the two teams now. The precedent says 3-0 Jazz- However, the games have had different storylines that it is good to go over in brief.
In the two matches played in Salt Lake City in back-to-back (March 26-27) the Jazz had tried to channel the game on favorable tracks right from the two-ball. In the first case, a vain attempt, with the Grizzlies able to recover from -21 at the end of the third quarter thanks to a 35-29 partial in the last 12 ‘. Successful escape, however, the following evening, with a +20 maintained without major problems wire to wire, from the first to the last minute of play.
The third race deserves a separate consideration because it took place in particular circumstances. A few moments after taking off towards Memphis, in fact, the Jazz were despite themselves witnessing an emergency landing operation caused by the impact of the aircraft with a flock of birds, with consequent damage to the engine. Shaken by the event, Donovan Mitchell – for example – did not attend the meeting the following day. Comparison in a tie at 89 up to six minutes from the siren, but a partial 10-4 was enough for the Jazz to definitively break the balance. In the absence of Mitchell, the best scorer of the evening was Conley (26), assisted by the 23 of Bogdanovic and 24 of Jordan Clarkson from the bench.
Tactical Keys / Players to Follow
The Jazz – in their fifth consecutive Playoff campaign – should recover from Race 1 Donovan Mitchell, who has missed the last 16 games of the season due to a sprained ankle. The game preached by Quin Snyder, one of the finalists for the Coach of The Year award, finds in Spida the great soloist capable of decisive high notes, but it is the collective that best interprets the score. This is certified by the numbers, which see Utah as the only team in the top 5 of the league for efficiency, attack and defense. This is confirmed, if ever needed, by the nominations for the 2020-21 NBA Awards. In addition to the aforementioned Snyder, Gobert in fact stands out for the award as Best Defender of the Year and two Jazz in the trio of finalists for the Sixth Man of the season award (Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles).
The Salt Lake City team orient nearly half of his attack on the three-point shot. Crucial to the outcome of the series, it goes without saying, will therefore be the perimeter defense of Memphis. In the background against the Grizzlies Utah’s triple car shot on average compared to the rest of the season, even a thread below according to the cold numbers around 37% of realization on more than 42 attempts in the evening.
Another very popular situation in Utah is that of the pick n roll concluded by the ball carrier, Mitchell and Conley in the first place. If he wants to give himself a chance, Memphis will have to make a less conservative choice than the recent matchups, moving more aggressively on the blocks to put pressure on facing the # 45 as much as possible.
Memphis leads the ranking for steals (over nine per game) points on the break (17.3 on average), points collected per game from second chance (15 per evening). Signals that, out of a sample of 72 regular season matches, denote – on the whole – a combative attitude and presence of spirit, trademarks of that Grit & Grind of yesteryear. The Grizzlies also achieve a lot in the area (first for points in paint). However, it will be difficult to see Valanciunas and other members of the frontcourt feast in painted, especially in the presence of Rudy Gobert.
Prediction
Coach Jenkins has the whole roster available in the hot moment of the season and is sipping the minutes of the returning Jaren Jackson Jr. Memphis will try to go against the statistics, but objectively the company is prohibitive. Since the introduction of the 16-team Playoffs – 1983-84 season – only five times (out of 74) has the No. eight won the first seed. Utah, holder of the best record in the league, will have the home factor for the entire duration of the Playoffs and is called to take advantage of the advantage gained with difficulty in recent months.
Utah Jazz (1) vs. (8): the Italian times of the series
Race 1: in the night between Sunday and Monday 24 May at 3.3o | Memphis @ Utah
Race 2: on the night between Wednesday and Thursday 27 May at 4.00 | Memphis @ Utah
Race 3: Saturday 29 May, time to be defined | Utah @ Memphis
Race 4: Monday 31 May, time to be defined | Utah @ Memphis
Race 5: Wednesday 2 June, time to be defined | Memphis @ Utah (if necessary)
Race 6: Friday 4 June, time to be defined | Utah @ Memphis (if necessary)
Race 7: Sunday 6 June, time to be defined | Memphis @Utah (if necessary)
