Jazz To Host Grizzlies In Opening Round Of Playoffs

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The top-seeded Utah Jazz will host the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the opening round of the playoffs beginning Sunday night at Vivint Arena.

The Grizzlies advanced to the playoffs after a 117-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Friday night’s final playoff play-in tournament game.

Memphis stunned the Warriors on the road led by Ja Morant who scored 35 points on 14-29 shooting, including 5-10 from three. The stellar Grizzlies defense held the Warriors offense to just 12 three-point makes on 35 attempts.

The @UtahJazz will face the @memgrizz in the first round of the playoffs. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/mcqPTxM303

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 22, 2021

Jazz Enter Playoffs With Top Seed

The Jazz enter the playoffs owning home-court advantage throughout the postseason having won a league-best 52 games during the regular season. It’s a notable advantage for the Jazz who were dominant in Salt Lake City, winning 31 of their 36 home games this season.

The Jazz were the league’s most dominant, and most balanced team during the regular season, finishing the year as the only team to rank in the top-four in both offensive and defense rating while owning the best Net Rating in the NBA at +9.0 points per 100 possessions.

Those numbers grew at home as the Jazz owned the NBA’s second-best offense and best defense with a Net Rating of +12.9 while playing in Utah.

It’s going to be a whiteout at @vivintarena on Sunday. ❄️🥶@utahjazz #TakeNote #NBAPlayoffshttps://t.co/sFqETuxqo4

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 21, 2021

The Jazz haven’t won a playoff series in either of the last two seasons, having been eliminated in the first round each of the last two years. The team owned a 3-1 series lead over the Denver Nuggets in last season’s playoff opener but dropped the final three games of the series in a stunning upset.

Sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic will make his playoff debut for the Jazz after missing last season’s loss to the Nuggets with a wrist injury. Bogdanovic has played in 30 career playoff games having qualified for the postseason in all but one of his seven NBA seasons.

Mike Conley will also open a series with the Jazz for the first time since joining the roster in the summer of 2019. The veteran guard missed the first two games of last season’s playoffs to attend the birth of his child.

The Jazz will be working All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell back into the lineup after missing the final 16 games of the regular season with a severe ankle sprain that caused him to miss the last five weeks’ worth of games.

Donovan Mitchell was back at practice today for the @utahjazz, and expects to be ready to play in game one on Sunday. #takenote https://t.co/VMGWR8RSW3

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 20, 2021

Last year, Mitchell led all scorers in the postseason averaging 36.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.9 assists while shooting 52 percent from the floor and 51 percent from the three-point line in the team’s opening-round loss to Denver.

Mitchell was cleared to return to the floor on Thursday and was going to monitor how his ankle responded to practice leading up to Sunday’s opener.

In the guard’s absence, Sixth Man of the Year award finalists Joe Ingles and Jordan Clarkson helped carry the Jazz offense to close the season. Clarkson led all bench scorers in the NBA averaging 18.4 points per game, while Ingles added 12.1 points per game on an impressive 49 percent shooting from the floor including 45 percent from three.

Between Gobert, Clarkson, Ingles, and Snyder, the @UtahJazz are well represented among finalists for the NBA end-of-season awards.#TakeNote https://t.co/Lx0jf9GM1l

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 21, 2021

The Jazz third-ranked defense is anchored by two-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert who is the favorite to win the award for the third time in the last four years.

The superstar Frenchman averaged 14.3 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks while shooting a league-best 67 percent from the floor.

Grizzlies Are Youngest Team In Playoffs

Memphis earned their way into the playoffs despite being the third-youngest roster in the NBA. Only the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder are younger, but neither team finished with an above .500 record.

The Grizzlies will make their first playoff appearance since 2017, having missed the playoffs each of the last three years.

Memphis enters the playoffs on a hot streak, having won eight of their last 10 games, including play-in games against the San Antonio Spurs and Warriors to qualify for the final playoff seed in the West.

dime dropper supreme. @JaMorant | @jarenjacksonjr pic.twitter.com/aKuaHMZxhy

— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) May 19, 2021

The Grizzlies are led by standout second-year guard Ja Morant who led the team in scoring at 19.1 points per game. Morant is one of the league’s best young playmakers, averaging 7.4 assists, though he struggled to shoot the ball this season, converting just 30 percent of his three-point attempts.

Outside of Morant, the Grizzlies have one of the most balanced offensive attacks with seven different players averaging in double digits scoring. Dillon Brooks, who will also be making his playoff debut is the Grizzlies’ second-leading scorer at 17.2 points per game.

Memphis was carried throughout the season by their seventh-ranked defense, anchored by Brooks, Morant, former Jazzman Grayson Allen, and rookie Desmond Bane on the perimeter, and Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas in the paint. The Jazz didn’t face Jackson Jr. in any of the teams’ three matchups this season.

Despite being a former top-five pick in the 2011 NBA draft, Valanciunas has become one of the NBA’s most underrated players.

Regardless of tonight's outcome, we're in for a terrific battle between Rudy Gobert and either Jonas Valanciunas or Draymond Green.

Here's how the @utahjazz center has fared against both players. #takenote https://t.co/7y9Y2Da8dc

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) May 21, 2021

The Lithuanian big man averaged 17.1 points and 12.5 rebounds during the regular season to help lead the Grizzlies to the playoffs.

The series will have strong personal feelings between the Grizzlies and Jazz guard Mike Conley.

Conley spent the first 12 seasons of his career in Memphis and is considered one of the three greatest Grizzlies players of all time.

Memphis played in 11 playoff series with Conley at the helm, with four series wins including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2013.

Taylor Jenkins, the Grizzlies head coach is a former Quin Snyder assistant with the Austin Toros.

Jazz vs. Grizzlies Season Series:

The Jazz swept the season series with the Grizzlies three games to zero, with all three games having been played within a five-day stretch.

Memphis lost back-to-back games in Utah beginning on March 26 with a 117-114 Jazz win. Mitchell led the Jazz with 35 points while Morant added 32, and the game was sealed by Conley winning a jump ball in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

Mitchell again carried the Jazz in game two of the series, scoring 35 points for the second consecutive night while Kyle Anderson led the Grizzlies with just 16 points. Memphis shot just 40 percent from the floor and 27 percent from three in the 126-110 loss.

The @utahjazz escaped Memphis with a victory, but not before a harrowing 36-hours that had the team's players grateful to be alive. #TakeNote https://t.co/cSQueoeJ2f

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) April 1, 2021

Mitchell didn’t play in the final meeting between the two teams after the Jazz team plane struck a flock of birds upon its departure. Despite his absence, the Jazz beat the Grizzlies 111-107 thanks to Conley’s 26 points.

Morant scored 36 points for Memphis, but the Grizzlies connected on just five of their 18 three-point attempts.

Jazz And Grizzlies Playoffs Schedule: 

The Jazz and Grizzlies open their first-round series on Sunday night in Salt Lake City with the game tipping off on TNT at 7:30 pm MT.

The teams will play game two in Salt Lake City on Wednesday at 8 pm MT, also broadcast on TNT.

Here you go @utahjazz fans.

They’ll play Sunday night against the Warriors or Grizzlies at 7:30 pm MT. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/yrgZBRPOPD

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 20, 2021

The teams will have two days off before traveling to Memphis for games three and four.

This marks the first matchup between the Jazz and Grizzlies in the postseason.