Bojan Bogdanovic has been carrying Utah Jazz for several games with his clutch shooting

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) and guard Ja Morant (12) defend Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic (44) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Nov. 29, 2019, in Memphis, Tenn. | Karen Pulfer Focht, AP

TORONTO — With a 12-7 record heading into December, the Utah Jazz may not be where they want to be but are probably about where they should be, considering they’ve played 11 road games and have already faced some of the tougher teams in the NBA.

The question that needs to be asked is, where would the Jazz be without Bojan Bogdanovic?

Probably not 12-7.

“He’s been unbelievable, so we’re going to keep riding him and let him do his thing until somebody stops him.” — Mike Conley, on Bojan Bogdanovic

Bogdanovic has clearly been the team’s top player over the last several games and some might say for the entire season.

He did it again Friday night in Memphis, where he carried the team on his back during a second-half rally that saw the Jazz come back from a 15-point deficit to win 103-94.

The 6-foot-8 Croatian is averaging a career-high 22.1 points per game on 48.8% overall shooting and 46.8% from 3-point range. He ranks eighth in the league in percentage, but among players who have at least six attempts per game, he is No. 1.

“He’s been unbelievable, so we’re going to keep riding him and let him do his thing until somebody stops him,” said Mike Conley, who joined the Jazz this summer along with Bogdanovic. “You give it to him when he’s got it going and he’s had it going for the last few weeks.”

Over the past six games, Bogdanovic is averaging 27.0 points on 55.5% shooting and 48.5% from 3-point range.

The Jazz were expected to be led by Conley and Donovan Mitchell as well as center Rudy Gobert with Bogdanovic adding his presence as a shooter.

Gobert has done his usual thing inside as a defender, rebounding at a career-high 13.9 boards per game while seeing his scoring average drop to 13.4, more than two points below last year’s average.

Mitchell got off to a strong start but has struggled with his shooting a bit lately going just 7 of 22 against Memphis.

Conley has had his moments, but so far has not found his range.

He’s only had three games shooting above 50% with six games below 30%, including Friday night when he only made 3 of 13 shots. For the season, he is shooting 36.1% from the field, which ranks him 126th in the NBA out of 127 eligible players.

As for Bogdanovic, he shrugged off his good play of late.

“It shows how unselfish we are, especially Donovan,” he said. “He’s supposed to take last shots in the last couple of minutes, but even in Bucks’ game he told me take the last shot. The coaching staff and both Donovan and Mike put the ball in my hands, it just shows how good they are.”

After losing the first two games of their road trip in Milwaukee and Indiana, the Jazz dearly needed to win Friday, which they did with their strong second half when they outscored the Grizzlies 64-39.

They’ll be challenged the next two nights with a game against defending NBA champion Toronto Sunday (4 p.m. MST), followed by a game at Philadelphia Monday (5 p.m.).

The Raptors have been one of the NBA’s surprise teams, despite being the reigning champs, standing at 14-4, the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. They lost their top player, Kawhi Leonard, but others have stepped up, most prominently Pascal Siakam, who is having an all-star-type season, averaging 25.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 46.0% from the field.

Kyle Lowry (21.8 ppg) has missed 10 games with a thumb injury but has been targeting Sunday’s game for his return. Fred VanVleet, in his first year as a starting guard, is averaging 18.5 ppg, while the other starters are forward OG Anunoby (11.3 ppg) and Marc Gasol (5.8 ppg).

JAZZ NOTES: Ed Davis returned to the Jazz lineup Friday after being out four weeks with a broken left fibula. He played 12 minutes and grabbed five rebounds while going scoreless. ... Dante Exum, who has been working his way back from a knee injury, played well in his short stint Friday, scoring five points with a 3-pointer and a dunk off a lob by Royce O’Neale, but after playing four minutes in the second quarter, he didn’t see any action in the second half. ... Joe Ingles went 1 for 6 against Memphis and is just 4 for 19 in his last four games. ... After playing Philadelphia, the Jazz will have five of their next six games at home, beginning with the red-hot L.A. Lakers Wednesday, followed by Memphis Saturday and Oklahoma City Monday.

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