If you’re surprised by the Utah Jazz and what they are doing this NBA postseason, then here’s a simple and straightforward question: why? Why is it a shock to so many that here are the Jazz, running roughshod through the playoffs so far, rolling onward with relentlessness and, apparently, having a heck of a good time doing it? Frankly, there are a good number of reasons why, and some of them cut pretty deep into the psyche of the NBA fan and the way we consume pro basketball as a whole. But it really boils down to this. If you’re still attempting to wrap your head around the concept of Utah as a dominant No. 1 seed that’s taking names and running through the Western Conference with a purpose, well, you just haven’t been watching closely enough. “I think they are … a perfectly built team,” FS1’s Kevin Wildes said on “First Things First.” “Unlike every other playoff team where you see why they’re good but can see their fatal flaw, I look at the Jazz and they remind me of going into someone’s house that an interior designer has done. Everything is in exactly the right spot, it looks perfect.” This isn’t a new thing. It might feel like it’s new, because now there’s only eight teams still hooping and LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic and Steph Curry are already on vacation, so you’ve really got no choice but to notice what’s going on in Salt Lake City. However, it’s not even close to being new. The Jazz have been doing it all season. They started on a tear and just kept ripping, ending the campaign with the league’s best record at 52-20. Yet, they’re not on national television a whole lot, their modus operandi is about winning basketball games rather than wallowing in drama, and their leading stars are better at being productive athletes than they are at the whole social media celebrity deal. It is rare that a column about an NBA team would get this far without mentioning one of its top figures by name, but that’s how the Jazz roll and they fully embrace it. Donovan Mitchell is a bona fide star but the secret sauce is that he doesn’t act like one. Neither does Rudy Gobert, the defensive foil to Mitchell, who has totaled 84 points in Games 1 and 2, lifting the Jazz to a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers. “The biggest thing for us is our will,” Mitchell said, a wise head at 24 and an electrifying spark on the hardwood. “I completely trust my teammates and they trust me with what I’m doing. We’ve got to continue to fight and continue to do what we do. “You just go out there and play and have fun. Obviously it is the playoffs and this is a high intensity series, but at the end of the day, I am playing the game I love with a bunch of guys I really like being around.” Remember the most recent NBA All-Star celebrations? Remember when Mitchell and Gobert were the last two players picked, by Kevin Durant and James respectively? It seemed like a slight back then for the twin engines of a team that was then on top of the standings and would remain there. It was, perhaps, a product of the same thing that leads the Jazz to be dismissed by those weighing up the title favorites. Such prognostications typically prioritize individual brilliance rather than team unity, but, as the San Antonio Spurs showed so many times, it doesn’t always work out that way. Mitchell makes his team tick, but there are valuable contributors everywhere you look, guys who have a role and are prepared to dig in wherever needed. Like Bojan Bogdanovic, not just hoisting up 3-pointers but scrapping for loose balls, and Joe Ingles, doing a little bit of everything out on the hardwood. The Clippers, despite being able to overturn a 21-point deficit in Game 2 before slipping away late, have had no real answer. Kawhi Leonard has essentially been asked to stifle Mitchell and get the offense firing, and it’s been too much. The oddsmakers have come around as FOX Bet has the Jazz as a clear second-favorite at +300 to win the title, behind only the +110 Brooklyn Nets. If you’ve really been watching these playoffs, looking at everyone’s pros and cons, the idea of Utah as champs seems anything but absurd. Unless and until that actually happens, though, chances are that the Jazz will still be somewhat overlooked. It just seems to happen that way, the viewing public need a lot of convincing when it comes to teams that don’t feature a megastar name and a bunch of previous franchise titles. “You guys got to understand,” James said by way of explanation when he made those All-Star picks, leaving the Jazz duo until the end of the board. “Just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah. Even as great as Karl Malone and John Stockton was, we never picked those guys in video games. Never.” Fortunately for the Jazz, the NBA playoffs have little in common with how things pan out on a PlayStation. And for everyone they’ve faced so far, it’s been Game Over. Here’s what others have said … Shannon Sharpe, Undisputed: “I like the grit and determination I saw from the Jazz after giving up a 21-point lead. The Clippers have their work cut out for them, this is a different Jazz team than what we saw last year.” Kevin Wildes, FOX Sports: “Donovan Mitchell is like the Grand Canyon. However impressive you think he is, he’s still far more impressive.” Brandon Marshall, FOX Sports: “When you mention Zion and Luka and Ja and Trae, you need to mention Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell is a superstar and we need to start treating him like it.” |
