SALT LAKE CITY – Donovan Mitchell, absent from Friday’s game during the league’s concussion protocol, tweeted something during the third quarter that sounded terribly like a warning to the rest of the NBA.
“Uh oh Bojan !!!” Mitchell said, with some eye emojis added.
As if the league needed one more reason to fear Jazz.
Utah won its 11th straight game with a decisive 120-101 victory over Dallas at Vivint Arena on Friday. Ten of the 11 wins came in double digits.
According to Cleaning the Glass, which eliminates trash time and surveys, Utah has the best net ranking in the league, the second best defense and the third best attack; and Jazz is number 1 in all for a mile in the country during its long winning streak – a period that now accounts for more than half the season.
All statistics indicate that Jazz is currently the best team in the league, and the eye test confirmed this on Friday.
Utah had a 25 point lead after the end of the first quarter by hitting eight out of three in the period and holding Dallas with just 3 out of 5 shots. Utah led by up to 30 points in the game and had six players who reached double figures. And all of this without your top scorer (Mitchell) or Derrick Favors.
Utah is currently a freight train leveling everything in its path. And that train got more fuel on Friday, courtesy of Bojan Bogdanovic.
What happens when Utah’s best marksman joins the 3-point raise? Mitchell may have said it better: “Uh oh.”
Bogdanovic, who had hit just 27% in three in the last four games, scored 32 points from 7 of 11 shots from behind the hoop. He scored 17 points in the third quarter only, with Utah (15-4) remaining at the top of the league standings.
“We had an argument this morning,” said Bogdnaovic. “Everyone wants me to kick more, be aggressive, but sometimes it’s difficult when you’re fighting; when you don’t see the ball going through the net.”
Bogdanovic hit just a 3-point basket in Utah’s victory over Dallas on Wednesday. For coach Quin Snyder and the rest of Jazz, that number was unacceptable. Yes, he’s been fighting a few times this year, but he’s coming out of the best season of his career. And the only way to get back to that level is to keep shooting.
“The way he plays and we play fit together perfectly,” said Snyder. “He hasn’t played in a long time. And he’s just going back to where he was, and that sometimes takes time.
“The biggest thing I want him to do is keep attacking, keep shooting, keep competing.”
For Bogdanovic, Friday’s game started the same way as many others this season: some wrong shots. Snyder designed some pieces to involve him, but was unable to convert. While Jazz achieved a big early advantage, Bogdanovic had hit 1 to 3 from the bottom.
With Utah’s love affair with the three ball, Snyder made it clear that no matter how many three were lost, everyone needs to keep shooting. That’s how Utah rolled nine consecutive games with at least 15 made three (one out of the league record) and reached 20 trios in one game seven times this season (more than in the history of the franchise entering the year).
It’s simple: if you’re open, throw the ball.
With the Mavericks trying to close the painting a little more after Rudy Gobert lost 29 points on Wednesday (Gobert still had 17 points and 12 rebounds in Friday’s victory), that meant less pressure on the perimeter, and that meant Bogdanovic it was open. In the third, he didn’t hesitate, connecting on all four of his 3-point attempts.
With each shot, confidence seemed to grow. His decisions were faster, his release faster – it seemed that Bogdanovic Jazz fans met last season.
“Tonight he was himself, and that makes us a lot better when he’s that aggressive,” said Mike Conley, who had 22 points and nine assists.
After winning 11 games followed by an average of 15.6 points, some teams must be thinking how much better Jazz can really get?
And all of that victory helped Bogdanovic to cope with a slower-than-expected start.
“I would be very angry if I was playing the way I am playing now and we are losing, but we are winning. The team is playing very well,” he said. “So, nobody cares about their own statistics and / or percentage or whatever you’re looking for. So it’s great for me that we’re winning, even though I’m fighting now.”
He did not fight on Friday. This can be “uh oh” for the rest of the league.
Ryan Miller