SALT LAKE CITY – Donovan Mitchell, who is sitting out Friday’s game while on concussion protocol, tweeted something during the third quarter that sounded horribly like a warning to the rest of the NBA.
“Oh oh Bojan !!!” Mitchell said, with a few eye emojis added.
As if the competition needed another reason to fear the Jazz.
Utah won its 11th game in a row with a 120-101 hit win over Dallas at Vivint Arena Friday. Ten of the eleven victories have been achieved with double digits.
According to Cleaning the Glass, which avoids time and effort, Utah has the highest net ranking in the league, the second best defense and the third best offense; and the Jazz is number 1 in all with a country mile on its long winning streak – a trajectory that now accounts for more than half the season.
By all statistics, the Jazz is currently the best team in the league, and the eye test confirmed that on Friday.
Utah had a 25-point lead after the end of the first quarter thanks to hitting eight threes in the period and holding Dallas to just 3-of-5 shooting. Utah led with a whopping 30 points in the game and let six players get double digits. And all without their top scorer (Mitchell) or Derrick Favors.
Utah is currently a freight train leveling everything in its path. And that train just got more fuel on Friday thanks to Bojan Bogdanovic.
What happens when Utah’s top shooter joins the three-point wave? Mitchell may have said it best, “Uh oh.”
Bogdanovic, who had only hit 27% of three in the past four games, scored 32 points on 7-of-11 shooting from behind the arch. He had 17 points in the third quarter alone, as Utah (15-4) remained at the top of the rankings.
“We had a discussion this morning,” said Bogdnaovic. “They all want me to shoot more, be aggressive, but it’s hard sometimes when you’re struggling; when you don’t see the ball coming through the net.”
Bogdanovic shot just one 3-pointer on Wednesday in Utah’s victory over Dallas. For head coach Quin Snyder and the rest of the Jazz, that number was unacceptable. Yes, he has struggled at times this year, but he’s off 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 the way we play are a good match,” said Snyder. ‘He hasn’t played for so long. And he just plays his way back to where he’s been, and that sometimes just takes time.
“The most important thing I want him to do is keep attacking, keep shooting, keep competing.”
For Bogdanovic, Friday’s game started in the same way as many others this season: a few missed shots. Snyder made a number of plays to involve him, but he was unable to repent. When the Jazz came out on a massive early lead, Bogdanovic had gone 1-for-3 from deep.
With Utah’s love affair with the three-ball, Snyder has made it clear that no matter how many three are missed, everyone should keep shooting. That’s how Utah rolled out nine consecutive games with at least 15 made threes (one of the league record) and has hit twenty three times in a game seven times this season (more than they had in franchise history of the year).
It’s simple: if you are open, shoot the ball.
With the Mavericks trying to finish the paint off a bit more after Rudy Gobert dropped 29 points on them on Wednesday (Gobert still had 17 points and 12 rebounds in Friday’s win), that meant less pressure on the perimeter, and that meant that Bogdanovic was open. In the third, he didn’t hesitate and connected with all four of his three-point tries.
Confidence seemed to build with every shot. His decisions were faster, his release faster – he looked like the Bogdanovic Jazz fans met last season.
“He was himself tonight, and it makes us a lot better when he’s that aggressive,” said Mike Conley, who had 22 points and nine assists.
After winning 11 consecutive matches averaging 15.6 points, some teams need to think about how much better the Jazz can actually get?
And all that winning has helped Bogdanovic cope with a slower-than-expected start.
“I would be really mad if I play the way I play now and we lose, but we win. The team plays great,” he said. “So nobody cares about their own stats and / or percentage or whatever you guys are looking for. So it’s great for me that we win, even though I’m struggling right now.”
He didn’t struggle on Friday. That could be “uh oh” for the rest of the competition.
Ryan Miller