POSTED: Mar 24, 2016 1:31 AM ET
Gordon Hayward's pick and Rodney Hood's drive and dish and Derrick Favors' resounding slam with 1.6 seconds left was the margin on the scoreboard in an 89-87 win over the Rockets. But the difference was in the way they simply kept competing.
The Jazz are nowhere close at this point to being able to line up against the likes of Golden State or San Antonio or Oklahoma City and expect to survive in a best-of-seven series.
However, first you've got to learn how to thrive in the heat of a stretch run race just to get there.
For the underachieving Rockets, this wrestling match for last playoff spot in the Western Conference is quite frankly a bit of an embarrassment for a franchise that came into the season with championship dreams.
But for the Jazz, No. 8 is great and every one of these late-season
games is a chance to grow and build. With the win, the Jazz went from a
half-game out of the playoffs to a half-game in.
"I think this whole process right now is good...," said coach Quin Snyder. " ... and that's exactly why whether it's one game or a number of games, just being in an environment like this one on the road, being in the hunt competitively, puts our team in a situation that is new for us. To the extent we can be there, whether we stay in eight, drop out or whatever the case may be, it's a good opportunity for us to get better."
The Jazz are a team that's come into the last couple of seasons thinking this was their year to step up and move back into the playoff picture. But setbacks have come in the form of critical injuries and this season was no different when Dante Exum went down with a torn left ACL and then Alec Burks fractured his left leg.
But here they still breathing, even after falling behind by 18 points in the second quarter against the Rockets and even though they carelessly gave the ball away with 23 turnovers.
"It's the NBA," Favors said. "The season is long, the games are long. There's always a chance to come back if you just don't give in to the easy way out and say it's too hard.
"It's not easy, but it's not hard. When you're down by that much and your shot's not going in, you want to play defense to get something going. We decided to do that and made a commitment at halftime. Then we didn't even think about what was happening, whether we had gotten momentum or what. I bet most of us didn't even look at the scoreboard."
Defense began to squeeze the life out of the Rockets and then the shots started to fall.
This is what most of them have been waiting to experience now for years, the intensity level rising as the number of games on the schedule goes down, the crackling importance of each game as March heads toward April and the finish line.
"We had this one circled going into it, a big game," Hayward said. "It's hard not to look at the standings at this point in the year and know what's at stake. So each game's gonna be a big game for us from here on out and we have to treat it like a playoff race, which it is.
"I don't think we were nervous in the first half. We were just making the wrong plays. They're one of the leaders in the league in steals and forcing turnovers. They were trapping our pick and rolls and it had us frustrated a little bit. In the second half we just played with more force, more energy.
"Of course, this game didn't wrap anything up for us. We still have 11 more games to play. But yeah, this is fun. Especially for me, this being my sixth year in the NBA and it's only the second time I've been in this. The other time was the lockout season and I have a much different, bigger role now. For all of us this is a great experience that we can use later in our careers. It's definitely fun."
After Dwight Howard's dunk tied the score at 87 with 22.3 seconds to play, the Jazz didn't call timeout and pushed the ball up the court. Hayward set a pick on James Harden and Hood was able to leave Trevor Ariza behind and scoot down the left side of the lane, drawing Howard out from under the basket and giving him an opening to make the pass to Favors.
"We made winning plays," Hood said. "Book (Trevor Booker) was amazing, his energy keeping us in the game. Gordan made great plays getting to the basket. I could do down the line with guys that made big plays down the stretch. We had that grit tonight, especially in the fourth quarter."
Shelvin Mack has only been with the Jazz for little more than month, but was in the playoffs last season in Atlanta.
"You've got to win this type of game," Mack said. "It's kind of like a playoff game, a must-win for both teams. It's competing. It's not gonna be pretty. You've got to grind out the win. You've got to go through this experience to learn how to be a playoff team."
In steps.
HOUSTON —
Maybe some day when the full roster is healthy and back on the floor
together, when the full intensity of playoff fever has returned to Utah
and they're regularly holding the big games again late into May and
June, the Jazz will think back to a night like this.
When they fought and battled, worked and scrapped and found a way. Gordon Hayward's pick and Rodney Hood's drive and dish and Derrick Favors' resounding slam with 1.6 seconds left was the margin on the scoreboard in an 89-87 win over the Rockets. But the difference was in the way they simply kept competing.
The Jazz are nowhere close at this point to being able to line up against the likes of Golden State or San Antonio or Oklahoma City and expect to survive in a best-of-seven series.
However, first you've got to learn how to thrive in the heat of a stretch run race just to get there.
For the underachieving Rockets, this wrestling match for last playoff spot in the Western Conference is quite frankly a bit of an embarrassment for a franchise that came into the season with championship dreams.
It's
hard not to look at the standings at this point in the year and know
what's at stake. So each game's gonna be a big game for us from here on
out and we have to treat it like a playoff race, which it is.
– Utah's Gordon Hayward
"I think this whole process right now is good...," said coach Quin Snyder. " ... and that's exactly why whether it's one game or a number of games, just being in an environment like this one on the road, being in the hunt competitively, puts our team in a situation that is new for us. To the extent we can be there, whether we stay in eight, drop out or whatever the case may be, it's a good opportunity for us to get better."
The Jazz are a team that's come into the last couple of seasons thinking this was their year to step up and move back into the playoff picture. But setbacks have come in the form of critical injuries and this season was no different when Dante Exum went down with a torn left ACL and then Alec Burks fractured his left leg.
But here they still breathing, even after falling behind by 18 points in the second quarter against the Rockets and even though they carelessly gave the ball away with 23 turnovers.
"It's the NBA," Favors said. "The season is long, the games are long. There's always a chance to come back if you just don't give in to the easy way out and say it's too hard.
"It's not easy, but it's not hard. When you're down by that much and your shot's not going in, you want to play defense to get something going. We decided to do that and made a commitment at halftime. Then we didn't even think about what was happening, whether we had gotten momentum or what. I bet most of us didn't even look at the scoreboard."
Defense began to squeeze the life out of the Rockets and then the shots started to fall.
This is what most of them have been waiting to experience now for years, the intensity level rising as the number of games on the schedule goes down, the crackling importance of each game as March heads toward April and the finish line.
"We had this one circled going into it, a big game," Hayward said. "It's hard not to look at the standings at this point in the year and know what's at stake. So each game's gonna be a big game for us from here on out and we have to treat it like a playoff race, which it is.
"I don't think we were nervous in the first half. We were just making the wrong plays. They're one of the leaders in the league in steals and forcing turnovers. They were trapping our pick and rolls and it had us frustrated a little bit. In the second half we just played with more force, more energy.
"Of course, this game didn't wrap anything up for us. We still have 11 more games to play. But yeah, this is fun. Especially for me, this being my sixth year in the NBA and it's only the second time I've been in this. The other time was the lockout season and I have a much different, bigger role now. For all of us this is a great experience that we can use later in our careers. It's definitely fun."
After Dwight Howard's dunk tied the score at 87 with 22.3 seconds to play, the Jazz didn't call timeout and pushed the ball up the court. Hayward set a pick on James Harden and Hood was able to leave Trevor Ariza behind and scoot down the left side of the lane, drawing Howard out from under the basket and giving him an opening to make the pass to Favors.
"We made winning plays," Hood said. "Book (Trevor Booker) was amazing, his energy keeping us in the game. Gordan made great plays getting to the basket. I could do down the line with guys that made big plays down the stretch. We had that grit tonight, especially in the fourth quarter."
Shelvin Mack has only been with the Jazz for little more than month, but was in the playoffs last season in Atlanta.
"You've got to win this type of game," Mack said. "It's kind of like a playoff game, a must-win for both teams. It's competing. It's not gonna be pretty. You've got to grind out the win. You've got to go through this experience to learn how to be a playoff team."
In steps.
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