Wow I have been watching the jazz since 97 and don't think I have ever seen and nba game go to 4ot's. I lost cell service during the first ot.
The reason you have not seen one is that there has not been a league wide 4OT game since 1997, and only I believe 9 of them in overall league history. This was the first ever 4OT for the Utah Franchise.
As for the B2B2B thing, lets break this down, sure they may have been somewhat tired, but in terms of rougher in the last, our schedule was every bit as tough. Let me break this down...
Thursday Utah travels to Sacramento, about a 90 minute trip. They had a late game there, and with it being hard fought to the end, heavy minutes were played. That night/early morning Friday, the Jazz returned to Salt Lake City, then played a late national TV game on ESPN against the overly physical Denver team that more than earned their nickname of the Thuggets. While being a blowout, it seemed almost every player was hit, kicked, knocked down, cheap shotted, etc. That game ended late, about 11:30pm, and I would bet it was after midnight before the players left the arena. Saturday was travel day, a 4.5 hour flight into Atlanta, then trying to get some rest in a hotel, which I know when I travel that far, just the flight wears me out. The Jazz had as much wear and tear over the prior 3 days , more or less.
By Comparison, Atlanta played their back-to-back-to-back, facing the teams of Washington, New Jersey, and Utah. 2 of the 3 games were at home, with the one game in-between being Washington on the road, which is only an hour flight away. Sure yes it is 3 games in 3 days, but I dont feel that the wear and tear on the players was any worse than what Utah has been thru in the prior 4 days. Both teams were run down, with good reason, and at the end it was simply who got the one or two shots to go down first, and that was Atlanta.
IMHO, I give both teams all the credit for that game. ATL was favored to win it by 2 in Regulation, but had to take 4OT to drop a Utah team with a worse record overall. Our players gave their all top to bottom. I just hope that we can find enough warm bodies for the NJ game tonight.
