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Memphis Grizzlies Fast Start Came To A Halt In Road Loss The Utah Jazz
Jaren Jackson Jr. had a bounce-back performance with 26 points after his disappointing showing against the Bulls, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Utah Jazz who broke a three-game losing streak with a 126-112 win over the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies came out firing early scoring 36 points in the first quarter and shooting 66.7 percent from the field. They would cool off in the second as Utah came into form to take a 69-54 lead at the half. Jaren Jackson Jr. had possibly his most aggressive offensive performance of the season as he took it to the NBA reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Utah's Rudy Gobert, early in the first quarter. Seeing Jackson this intentional about scoring early led to him being asked if he is finding a rhythm offensively.
“I guess a little bit," said Jackson. "You know, just finding my spots and getting on balance. It just comes from shooting extra after practice. You got to just do the reps, because when you do the reps it feels better in the game.”
Jackson would also speak on the matchup against Rudy Gobert.
“You got to respect his defense," said Jackson. "He’s really good at it. So just got to just watch film and look for ways to exploit how you can get an advantage.”
Jackson did a much better job picking his spots offensively and not forcing the issue inside. He would share his thoughts on this as well.
“Yeah just being smarter, I wasn’t smart last time and I paid the price," said Jackson in reference to his shot selection against Utah versus the previous game in Chicago. "I just wasn’t doing the right things last time and I just want to kind of change that. Attack with more force, try to use counters more instead of just going to one move. Because if you just do one move, it’s easier to guard that."
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Memphis Head Coach Taylor Jenkins tipped his hat to the Jazz and also acknowledged that his team could have done better - especially in the second quarter.
“Well obviously the Jazz had a heck of a night," said Jenkins whose team has lost two straight to the Jazz. "Lot of credit to them. They came out firing on all cylinders. They made 19 threes. That’s hard to overcome. You know obviously there’s ones I felt we could have maybe done a better job scrambling or taking away, stuck to the game plan a little bit better, but they obviously hit some tough ones. You know they just had a night. I thought our guys you know spirits were up for the most part. It’s hard you know when teams are playing that well.
I felt like, you know, that second-quarter our offense hurt us a little bit," Jenkins would add. "You know. Not making shots, missing a couple of threes. You know not really trusting the pass and getting side to side. But you know we fought. We fought in the third quarter. We won the third quarter, and then they just got hot again in the fourth quarter. We just couldn’t sustain it and just overcome it. So you know I thought the Jazz were great tonight, credit to them."
Jae Crowder finished with 13 points in his return to his former team. He would speak on his return to Utah, as well as what his team needs to do to compete better on long road trips like the ten-day trip that his team is currently on.
“Feels good to be back," said Crowder. "It’s somewhere I feel comfortable with, obviously. Me and the crowd have a good relationship and left on a good note so it felt good to get an ovation when I came back here.”
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“We’re on a road trip, tough road trip," Crowder would add. "We just have to dig in and find a way. We’ve got a few guys down and we just have to find a way to play the right way for 48 minutes and give ourselves a chance to win each game.”
