The summer’s long dry spell is over as the drought from the game is over. The Utah Jazz had their first game, and it rained sweat on the court as they went head-on with the Memphis Grizzlies. There have been so many questions on whether the rookies will play, how they will do it, whether the weight training over the break helped, and whether Kenneth Lofton’s mom stopped cooking for him. The biggest question is how the new Utah Jazz will look on the court against the best teams in the world.
Utah Jazz start the Summer League against the Grizzlies
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Yesterday, the Utah Jazz hosted the Memphis Grizzlies in Salt Lake City. A lot of eyes were on Zach Edey, the two-time national college player of the year, who was fresh from Purdue and playing for the Grizzlies. He was the Grizzlies’ 9th overall pick in what might have been the most surprising of the NBA draft.
Both teams came to play with a physical style throughout the game. It was a tight game as they fought back to counterstrategy. There were ten ties, and the lead changed ten times in the game.
The Grizzlies started winning the tipoff and raised the bar with an ally oop in the Jazz’s face, followed soon after by a blocked shot and finishing with a two-handed dunk. Score 8 to 4, Grizzlies on top after a long miss three. Memphis showed a little style with another ally swing dunk, smashing the ball down through the hoop.
Utah Jazz George slowed things down right after that, drawing the foul and sinking the shot to keep the Jazz in it.
Memphis showed they could send it from another zip code and not just from under the net, bringing a couple of threes down on the Jazz. The score is now 19 to 10. Kenny Lofton Jr. brought out his long arms after a pump fake and danced under the hoop, laying in a two-pointer for the Jazz.
The Grizzlies kept the threes falling, making the score 25 to 12. As the second half was closing, the Jazz struggled to execute and keep the ball. Twelve turnovers were starting to cost the Jazz 19 points and pride.
With only two minutes left before the half and the Jazz still trailing by 11, George pulls up and drops a quick 3-pointer, bringing the score 46 to 38, Jazz still down.
After the half, the Jazz adjusted their game, and five minutes into the third quarter, they closed the point gap down to a one-point deficit. It wasn’t long before Jazz took their first lead when Lofton Jr. took the inside pass and dunked it, showing they had the spirit to win.
After that, it was a physical battle and tough living in the paint for both teams just before the fourth quarter started. After tight scoring back and forth, the Jazz started pulling away with a four-point lead.
The Grizzlies weren’t having it with five minutes left in the game and took the lead back with 80 over the Jazz’s 75. After a couple of blocks and tight looks, with one minute left in the game, it was Grizzles 87 and Jazz 83.
Hendricks fires up a 3-pointer, hitting it to close the gap to a one-point game. The Jazz close the door on the other end of the court, and Hendricks, on the breakaway, gives the Jazz a one-up over the Grizzles.
When it came down to the last .08 of a second, Memphis was down by two, and power forward Jake LaRavia, on the line for his last free throw, sent a rimmer, and (you guessed it) Zach Edey tapped it in, sending it into overtime.
Zach Edey taps in intentionally missed FT
The tip + the celebration from inside the building 📹👀 https://t.co/Aid5Hn71eV pic.twitter.com/u5wwT8Q8Wi
— NBA (@NBA) July 9, 2024
The Summer League overtime rules state that the winner is the first team to reach seven points in overtime.
It went back and forth until a Foul on George sent him to the line, where he made both shots, giving the new Utah Jazz their win of the Summer League, 97 to 95.
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