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Jody Genessy
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Several of those guys came off the bench to help the Jazz win their eighth straight, improve to 26-12 and vault into a third-place tie in the Western Conference standings
SALT LAKE CITY — Jazz coach Quin Snyder admitted Donovan Mitchell was sick Friday night, but not the kind of sick your teenager might use to describe the star shooting guard’s stellar play.
Mitchell was sick sick, not awesome sick.
That makes sense considering Mitchell only scored four points on 2 of 9 shooting and played just 22 minutes.
Fortunately for Utah, there were some other players who had sick showings — a good sick — in what turned out to be an easy-breezy 109-92 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Bonus: Several of those guys came off the bench to help the Jazz win their eighth straight, improve to 26-12 and vault into a third-place tie in the Western Conference standings.
“The bench has been great, hasn’t it?” the good-natured Jazz backup Georges Niang said. “No, obviously the guys who are on the bench unit throughout the whole year, we take pride in our minutes and things like that, so getting out there and trying to make an impact for our starters is something big for us.”
Friday’s game was an exceptional one for the cavalry unit, which is becoming as much of a regular occurrence as postgame water-bottle showers (Niang received his turn on this night, getting simultaneously drenched by Mitchell and Joe Ingles while conducting an on-court interview with Jazz sideline reporter Kristen Kenney).
Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz in scoring off the bench with 20 points, including three 3’s. Niang continued his solid play with 15 points and five treys, and point guard Emmanuel Mudiay added 10 points and six assists.
It’s the seventh straight game — during Utah’s eight-game winning streak — in which Utah’s subs have outscored their counterparts.
“To play well and get the lead is great, but for those guys to go in and not just get an opportunity, but to keep the lead and do what they did, play roles and play really well ... that is why we built our team the way we built our team. We are deep and guys can come in at any point if guys are injured or the game is like it is tonight” — Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles
The Jazz’s second unit even managed to outscore the starters (56 to 53) and allowed the first five to again be able to get somewhat of a break during this blowout. No player logged more than 29 minutes.
Snyder also liked the fact that he was able to basically empty the bench, giving up-and-comers like Rayjon Tucker and Juwan Morgan some playing time.
“So it gives them the chance to find a rhythm and get more and more comfortable with what we are trying to do,” Snyder said. “There was a stretch there where guys were playing heavy minutes and at that point the game dictated that. You always want to maximize every opportunity that presents itself that way. I think that is a good thing.”
The Jazz coach noticed that Mitchell wasn’t his usual self early on and this game was a perfect one to let him work up a sweat, but not overextend himself. In all, 10 players were on the court for at least 13 minutes.
Ingles liked that those backups got playing time but also preserved the lead for the most part. Utah did go ahead by as many as 33, but the final 17-point margin was due more to the law of (shooting) averages catching up after Charlotte’s miserable 13-point first quarter.
“To play well and get the lead is great, but for those guys to go in and not just get an opportunity, but to keep the lead and do what they did, play roles and play really well ... that is why we built our team the way we built our team,” Ingles said. “We are deep and guys can come in at any point if guys are injured or the game is like it is tonight.”
The Jazz starters seemed particularly happy that Niang — a teammate some are lovingly calling “Minivan” — had another nice game. Hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers was particularly impressive.
“I put my money on @GeorgesNiang20 for the 3 point contest!!” Rudy Gobert tweeted. “Make it happen @NBA. #minivangang.”
I put my money on @GeorgesNiang20 for the 3 point contest!! Make it happen @NBA . #minivangang
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) January 11, 2020
While that might not happen despite Niang’s 46.4 percent clip from beyond the arc, the Jazz bench needs to keep making what they’re doing happen on a consistent basis as the schedule gets more difficult.
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