Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley (10) shoots through the arms of Sacramento Kings center Dewayne Dedmon (13) during the first half of an NBA basketball game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. | Colter Peterson, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — Without any context, the reaction might have been a bit overblown.
Just three-and-a-half minutes into the Utah Jazz’s 113-81 blowout win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night at Vivint Arena, new Jazz point guard Mike Conley received a pass behind the 3-point line from Donovan Mitchell, took a dribble and raised up for a shot that, truth be told, wasn’t all that in-rhythm.
It went in, though, the crowd went wild for a few moments and Conley gave a smile as he moved to the other end of the floor to play defense. When the Kings turned the ball over 13 seconds later on a bad pass from Dewayne Dedmon to Buddy Hield that went out of bounds, Conley signaled for fans to get loud again, and they obliged.
Utah led just 10-8 at the time and still 44 minutes remained on the game clock, but for Conley, the shot was a big moment. Acquired by the Jazz via trade after 12 years as a franchise pillar of the Memphis Grizzlies, Conley was supposed to bring a level of scoring acumen Utah didn’t previously have at point guard to, theoretically, make life easier for Mitchell.
It was a small sample size, to be sure, but Conley failed to do that in the Jazz’s first two games of the season, as he shot just 4-of-27 from the field, and then he missed his first shot attempt Saturday before the make. An easily-panicked sector of Utah’s fanbase was already starting to worry that the veteran wouldn’t be able to produce as they had envisioned.
And so when the Ohio State product connected on that 3-pointer, his first triple of the season, fans’ fears started to flee.
Conley himself said after the game that he felt a sense of relief.
“I kind of just looked up in the air because it felt the same as the rest of the 21 I missed, or whatever it was, so I was like, ‘Thank God it finally went in,’” he said. “It felt great and the fans, obviously, they helped me through it, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Conley wound up making five of his 11 shots on the night, one more than he had made in the first two games of the season on 16 fewer attempts. He went 2-for-4 in the first quarter before missing his next three tries, but then he made three of his last four.
His made jumper with 5:24 left in the third quarter was his final shot attempt of the night, as he was subbed out 30 seconds later with the Jazz leading by 32 points. His final stat line: 12 points, eight assists and three rebounds in just 24 minutes.
Conley said part of what helped him Saturday was the fact that head coach Quin Snyder didn’t sub him out for the first time until nearly nine minutes into the game, about three minutes longer than his first stint in Utah’s opening two games of the season.
“I think that helped me just get in a good rhythm,” he said. “That’s what I’m kind of used to doing. Back in Memphis I played longer stretches to kind of get in the flow of the game differently. Not saying that’s the reason why I missed shots. You’ve got to make shots, but I thought it just allowed me to be in more control of the game and get guys involved and get myself going a little earlier.”
Snyder said it wasn’t his intent to keep Conley in the game longer in the first quarter to help him get going, but he was happy to see him get in more of a rhythm nonetheless.
“It was good to see Mike just settle in and find some comfort running our team,” he said. “I think our guys are looking to him, and it was good to see that from him.”
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