Phoenix and Utah give life to a good game, played better by attacks than defenses and decided between the third and fourth period by the Jazz, able to accelerate at the right moment and defend the advantage until the final siren. Donovan Mitchell scores 26 points with 6/11 from three and Jordan Clarkson adds 22 from the bench, making Devin Booker’s 30 and Deandre Ayton and Cameron Johnson’s 23 useless
It was supposed to be a playoff starter and actually the match between Phoenix and Utah did not betray expectations, showing a high level of basketball especially offensive. To win after an excellent second half were the Jazz, good at overturning the game in a third as much as 38-29 led by an excellent Donovan Mitchell (26 points with 6/11 from three) and from 22 of Jordan Clarkson, in addition to the usual double double of 16 + 14 of Rudy Gobert. Nothing to do for the Suns, who lose again at home after the knockout at the hands of New Orleans, suffering the absence of Chris Paul (out with a hand injury) despite the 30 points scored by Devin Bookerwhich also adds 7 rebounds and 7 assists to his game. Deandre Ayton and Cameron Johnson sign 23 eachbut the contribution of the bench is totally missing (11 points in all) and in the final Jae Crowder makes a huge mistake throwing away the ball that could have given the equalizer to his Phoenix still maintains a 5.5-game lead over second-placed West, while Utah is now almost certain of fourth place in the Western Conference.
The story of the first half
DeAndre Ayton and Rudy Gobert exchange blocks in the first two possessions of the match, then to unlock the game is the first shooting from the arch of Cam Johnson. Ayton then signed a personal 5-0 run with a good job under the basket and a triple in transition for the 8-0 that forced coach Snyder to the first timeout of the game. The Jazz score their first basket with a triple but Phoenix continues to push on the accelerator and finds the first double-digit advantage of the game at 13-3, keeping it to the sound of baskets for the 20-10 after five minutes of competition. However, it is the three-point shot that puts Utah back into the game, in particular a Donovan Mitchell from 3/3 from the arc with a three-point play on a foul by Devin Booker, who on the other side begins to hammer from middle distance. The game is rekindled with the duel Hassan Whiteside-JaVale McGee, who exchange dunks in the head. to further raise the level of a match played at a very high pace by both teams. The attack of the Jazz is definitely in the game and the play on the iron between Jordan Clarkson and Gobert is worth the parity at an altitude of 32 with which a splendid first quarter ends.
Utah also puts his head ahead in the opening of the second quarter, taking advantage of the minutes Chris Paul usually managed the team when Booker exited the field. The competition continues on the rails of equilibrium with the Ayton-Gobert duel that is continually renewed with each action, with the Suns leading back to 43-41 at the timeout of the second quarter. On his return to the field, however, Bojan Bogdanovic gives a blaze and with a three-point game pushes him up to the maximum advantage on +7, immediately taken up by the Johnson-Bridges duo up to 52 all. Ayton comes back from middle distance and climbs to 17 in the first half alone, with Phoenix closing the fourth with a partial 8-4 for go to the long rest on 60-56.
The story of the second half
Better attacks than defenses in the opening of the third quarter, especially with Jae Crowder and Royce O’Neale signing two triples in a row on each side. Phoenix’s lead extends up to +9, then Crowder himself comes from the weak side for one Get it hard on Gobert’s head punished with a Type 1 flagrant. Utah gets closer to -2, is chased back by a blaze of the Suns but Mitchell invents a personal 8-0 to sign the parity at 86. Jordan Clarkson signs two baskets in a row lighting up from the arc to push his up to +5 with which the last quarter ends, going to the last rest on 94-89.
Cam Johnson starts again scoring his fourth triple of the evening immediately from the arc, but the Jazz remain ahead thanks above all to Clarkson’s improvisations, lit up all of a sudden after a sleepy first half. Booker responds with a triple to the first attacking possession upon returning to the field to return to -2, then Mitchell builds an easy shot for Clarkson who puts back 4 lengths between the two teams in the middle of the last quarter. Always Whiteside and Clarkson push up to the maximum advantage on +8, which becomes 9 with the triple from the corner of Danuel House. Booker scores three to bring his team back to -6 with 3 minutes left. Gobert returns to the field and immediately stops Ayton, while Mitchell builds another open triple for House to score again. after which he invents an absurd triple scoreboard for +10 less than two minutes from the end. Booker signs five points in a row interspersed with a winning challenge from his bench, then Crowder scores from the arc for -3 but throws away an incomprehensible ball, taking away from his team the possibility of a draw. It is the decisive mistake: Conley scores 1 on 2 from the line and the game ends 118-114.
