The Triple Team: Utah Jazz pulls off the ugly but necessary tank to try to prevent Rockets in playoffs

I was worried when the Jazz had a 22-point lead in the third quarter.

After all, the Suns had a 20-point lead over the Thunder, which rested most of their starters. And if the Jazz won and the Thunder lost, that would move the Jazz to the 5th seed, usually to play the Houston Rockets. We know how the Jazz go against the Rockets when it comes to five seeds: the Jazz would probably lose, and soon.

Never be afraid: the Jazz tank, and fast. From that moment on, the Jazz played terrible defense, it almost never went on offense, losing the fourth quarter 34-14. That was enough to get an eight-point loss that held six seeds for now.

Emmanuel Mudiay was the tank commander. It’s a role he’s trusted after taking over for the New York Knicks last year. And in the fourth quarter, he was brilliant, going 0-4 off the field with three innings.

Mudiay’s brilliance is that I do not know if it was his intention to refuel here by dribbling to the corner, not using Ed Davis’ screen, not moving Delon Wright effectively, and then the disputed midrange fadeaway jumper with enough to take of the time left on the shot clock. It’s definitely a move I’ve seen Mudiay do before. He missed the shot, which means he succeeded.

I also do not know if tanking was on his mind when he just so slowly and unmistakably rode wrong against Trey Burke that even Burke, a notoriously bad defender, easily ripped the ball for the steal. Mudiay then greets Burke in “frustration.” Neither do I know if it was Mudiay’s intention to carry the ball so clearly that it even became a whistle in the NBA. But he did those things, and Jazz fans should be grateful. We should also note that Mudiay was actually pretty good in the early part of the game.

Mudiay was not alone here, I should note: Jarrell Brantley was also 0-4, missing all his tears. Justin Wright-Foreman played some terrible defense, and Miye Oni just pressed on loose balls. It was a team effort, to be sure. A successful and necessary.

I understand why people would be mistrusted by the Jazz thanking the fourth quarter, and it was a bit icky. But it was pretty necessary if you believe the Rockets are the worst possible matchup for the Jazz – as I do and Quin Snyder apparently does.

Here are the rankings and the relevant games:

• To get the 5th seed, the Jazz would have to defeat the Spurs and the Thunder would have to lose both games.

• To get the 7th seed, the Jazz would have to lose to the Spurs and the Mavericks would have to win both of their games.

• In all other scenarios, the Jazz would be the 6th seed.

But of course, it is not necessarily what seed you are, but who you play. Here’s something to look out for in the top half of the conference, with a hat tip to follow Dan Clayton’s graph:

• If the Nuggets win, they are in the two seed.

• Clippers who beat the Nuggets would guarantee their two seeds.

The Rockets moving to the 2nd or 3rd seed is only possible if the Clippers lose of Denver goes 1-2 or 0-3.

In short, I think it’s likely that Houston will stay as the 4th seed, and one of the Nuggets of Clippers will be the second and third seed.

Now fans can logically ask why the Jazz would consider it thankful if they had the opportunity to play the Clippers, who have been a really good team all season, better than the Rockets. Now, the truth is that the Jazz match much better against the Clippers: Rudy Gobert has a traditional big man to match, they can attack Lou Williams offensively, and Doc Rivers’ defense can be a bit exploitative. It would of course be difficult, but it would at least be different.

In the bubble, the Jazz were far more happy with 3-point shots than they were in the regular season. Over the course of the seven games so far, they have averaged 41.6 attempts per game. For the rest of the regular season, she averaged 34.4 3-point shots per game. And after Monday’s performance of 21-46, she now shoots it at roughly the same accuracy: 38%.

That may come as a bit of a surprise, given the absence of Bojan Boganovic, who has led the Jazz in 3-point attempts this season, with 7.3 per game. But I think it makes some sense once you consider how the Jazz were defended: with Bogdanovic, teams were much more concerned about keeping them off the arc. Without him, teams have much more to worry about Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert’s two-man paint game Jazz.

They have also shown quite clearly: if those shots fall, they will be successful. They got the 22-point lead on Monday on the back of shooting 56% of three on a ton of catch-and-shoot looks. They lost the lead once the 3-ball went dry, intentionally or not.

The Jazz will, unusually, become a “live by the three, die by the three” type team in the playoffs. As underpowered underdogs, I think that also makes strategic sense. They will just have to push themselves if it matters, if the closeouts are a little harder and the pressure is a lot higher.