Twenty Open Threes The Jazz Missed Against Memphis
May 24, 2021, 1:04 PM | Updated: 1:34 pm
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz lost their playoff opener against the Memphis Grizzlies 112-109 after one of their worst three-point shooting nights of the season.
The team looked rusty in the first game back after a week off, committing 14 turnovers in the first three quarters, 12 of which were live ball giveaways.
The Jazz were also without Donovan Mitchell who missed his 17th consecutive game with a sprained ankle, robbing the team of their go-to scorer.
While the Jazz can point to rust, or the lack of star power, ultimately it was their 25 percent completion rate on 47 three-point attempts against Memphis that cost them the game. Here’s a look at 20 three-point shots the Jazz wish they could get back against the Grizzlies in game one.
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Mike Conley: Season 41 3p% – Game 1: 3-11
Mike Conley shot just 3-11 on three-point attempts against his former team, despite being a 41 percent shooting during the season.
Of Conley’s eight misses, these four were particularly good looks at the basket.
Jordan Clarkson: Season 35 3p% – Game 1: 0-8
Jordan Clarkson had the worst shooting night of any Jazz player, going 0-8 from the three-point line and snapping his streak of 94 consecutive makes from downtown.
While Clarkson takes more threes off the dribble than most of his teammates, these four misses were nearly wide open on Sunday.
Bojan Bogdanovic: Season 39 3p% – Game 1: 4-11
Bojan Bogdanovic shot 4-11 from three in game one, just three percentage points below his season averages, he also had a spectacular second-half scoring all 29 of his points for the Jazz after halftime.
However, the sharpshooter would likely love to have these misses back, each which contributed to his scoreless first half.
Miye Oni: Season 34 3p% – Game 1: 0-1
It’s difficult to knock Miye Oni for missing his lone three-point attempt as his season average would indicate that he would.
However, he’s in the game to play defense and knock down corner threes, and this was a great look from distance.
Joe Ingles: Season 45 3p% – Game 1: 3-7
Again, it’s hard to criticize Joe Ingles who was the Jazz most efficient shooter on Sunday, knocking down 3-7 from deep for 42 percent.
However, considering he was face guarded by Dillon Brooks for long stretches of the game, he was probably happy to see daylight with these open looks, both of which missed.
Royce O’Neale: Season 38 3p% – Game 1: 1-3
Royce O’Neale connected on his first three of the game just one minute into the opening quarter, but missed his last two attempts, going just 1-3 from distance.
These aren’t perfect looks, but as a 3-and-D wing, he would love to have these shots every possession down the floor.
Georges Niang: Season 42 3p% – Game 1: 1-6
Perhaps nobody would love to have another opportunity to retake these shots than Georges Niang who was surprisingly cold against the Grizzlies.
Niang is a truly great shooter, and all five of his misses could be categorized as wide open, they just happened to rim out in the team’s playoff opener.
While it’s easy to point at the absence of Donovan Mitchell, or the 14 turnovers of the first three quarters of the game as the reason the Jazz lost, most of the blame can be pinned on these 20 misses from behind the three-point line.
These seven Jazz sharpshooters combined to shoot just 25 percent on 47 three-point attempts against Memphis, 20 of which were fabulous looks.
Though they may have not fallen in game one, the Jazz would be happy to get more looks like these throughout the series.