Another game.
Another strong start.
Another second-quarter meltdown.
Another close loss.
Just like they did against San Antonio, Boston and Toronto, the Utah Jazz failed to protect an early lead and ended up falling to the Memphis Grizzlies 94-88 on the road Friday night.
It was a game full of wild swings in momentum as the Jazz (28-33) led by 14, then trailed by 10, then led again by seven before losing by six.
Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 18 points (on 7-for-12 shooting), while Derrick Favors (14 points), Rudy Gobert (13 points) and Shelvin Mack (12 points) also scored in double figures.
Rodney Hood battled foul trouble (and even picked up a technical foul midway through the second quarter) and finished with only eight points in 29 minutes.
Zach Randolph was a beast in the paint (as usual) and scored a game-high 25 points for the Grizzlies (37-24). His biggest shot, though, came from outside when he drilled just his fourth 3-pointer of the season to beat the shot clock and give Memphis an eight-point lead with just over three minutes left in the game.
Lance Stephenson added 16 points off the bench in the win.
Friday’s Best
Gobert stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks. He also had a team-best rating of +13. Rudy’s now averaging 11.0 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks over his last five games.
Key Stretch
Yes, the Jazz had the lead in the fourth quarter and failed once again to close it out. But they could have put Memphis away early on. Utah jumped out to a 24-10 lead and looked to be rolling … before they weren’t anymore. The Grizzlies responded by closing the first half on a 39-15 run to take a 49-39 lead.
The Jazz scored 11 points on 27.8 percent shooting in the decisive second quarter, while Memphis scored 30 points on 66.7 percent shooting.
Significant Stat
58
Tonight’s game was a layup fest for the Grizzlies, who got to the rim at will en route to 58 points in the paint. The Jazz finished with 40 points in the paint.
Coach’s Quote of the Night
“It’s hard. Our guys are hurting. … This is the toughest part of the year from a scheduling standpoint for us. We’re on a road trip and hopefully we can bounce back tomorrow night … There isn’t a lot of analysis to go into it. We’ve just got to be ready to bounce back. That’s the good thing about the NBA—you get to play again soon.”
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
Up Next
The Jazz will finish their road trip on Saturday when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. MT, and the game will be televised on ROOT SPORTS.
