Mike Conley Goes 1-for-16 In Regular Season Jazz Debut
Oct 23, 2019, 10:46 PM | Updated: 11:02 pm
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah Jazz shooting guard Mike Conley had one of the worst shooting performances of his career during the season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Conley went just 1-of-16 from the field Wednesday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena. That’s just 6.25 percent shooting.
He was 0-12 before finally hitting his first and only field goal during the third quarter – an 8-foot jump shot with 5.9 seconds left in the third quarter of Utah’s 100-95 win.
One down ✅#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/bPTkplgyGm
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 24, 2019
Conley went 0-6 from behind the three-point line.
His shooting woes did not extend to the field goal line, where he went 3-4. On the night, the point guard had 5 points and 5 assists.
Despite his poor shooting, Conley had a plus/minus ration of +1.
As a team, Utah shot 44.4 percent against Oklahoma City, though only four players had lower than 40 percent – Joe Ingles (37.8 percent), Jeff Green (25 percent) and Conley.
Donovan Mitchell led all scores with 32 points on 63.6 percent shooting. He also added 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
.@spidadmitchell went superhero in the @utahjazz season opener.#TakeNote #OKCvsUTAhttps://t.co/6M8U2fKB3q
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 24, 2019
“We didn’t shoot the ball, obviously, very well. A couple of us had a rough night,” Conley said after the game. Donovan really came through in the end, offensively and defensively.”
Conley’s shooting challenges came from all over the floor, though non of his attempts came from below the rim.
“I was a little bit confused. I was like, ‘I don’t know what else to do. I got to get a layup or something,’ because it’s just, in and out, and in and out,” he said. “Even a lot of shots in the paint. They all felt good but they were short.”
Conley said he wanted to perform well in his first regular season game in front of the home crowd, but shots weren’t falling his way.
“I might have been too excited for the first game or something, but if I’m a betting man, I probably won’t do that again,” he said.
Last year with Memphis, Conley shot 43.8 percent from the floor, averaging 21.1 points per game – the highest point total of his career.
Utah brought the 12-year veteran in to help with scoring, though he has struggled to gain his rhythm during the preseason.
Conley shot 35 percent during in four preseason games, including an 0-6 outing in Milwaukee, and 2-8 shooting against the Sacramento Kings. Other than a 3-5 performance from behind the line against New Orleans, he was 1-10 in three-point attempts in the rest of the preseason.
Despite his slump from the field, Conley was perfect from the free throw line on 15 attempts through the preseason.