It was just under a month ago when Hardy sat in the bowels of the American Airlines Center following Utah’s 50-point loss to the Mavericks. Despite delivering one of the best quotes of the NBA season, that night sparked something in the Jazz.
Although they dropped the following two games, they were much closer as Utah showed a lot of fight and resilience. What followed was victories in seven of their last 10 games. On Sunday, the Jazz pushed that number to eight and exacted revenge with a dominant 127-90 win over Dallas.
“A really good team win,” Hardy said. “Obviously, based on how the last game went against them, a really big turnaround for our group. … I thought the approach was there this morning; I thought the approach was there pregame.”
“Obviously just a really well played game, by really our whole team,” he added. “I thought defensively, we did a really good job guarding two players that are very tough to cover. Offensively, 37 assists. … That’s who we are trying to be.”
Here are five things to know following the win.
1.) IT FINALLY HAPPENED
After 5,801 days, the Jazz have finally recorded a triple-double.
With just 2:28 remaining, Jordan Clarkson chased down a long rebound for his 10th of the game. That completed the final stat line of 20 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. The Delta Center crowd exploded with the rebound as Clarkson immediately called timeout.
Utah’s last recorded triple-double came on Feb. 8, 2022, when Carlos Boozer finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists against the Seattle Supersonics. During the time that had elapsed, the Jazz had played 1,256 games, and 1,205 triple-doubles were recorded.
“We were just having a conversation if he (Hardy) was going to take me out. … But he left me in there,” Clarkson said. “Everyone did a good job of boxing out so I could get that last rebound. I’m just happy to break that record, finally. … I know it’s been some time. My bad to my OG Carlos Boozer, but we had to do it. … That’s love.”
“JC is a big part of our team,” Hardy added. “He sometimes unnecessarily catches some heat when he doesn’t play great. … But the way that he operates in our locker room and with his teammates and the coaching staff, he’s a big part of the fiber of the team.”
It didn’t come easy as Clarkson recorded his ninth rebound at the 5:33 mark, which brought the crowd to life. With Utah extending its lead, Hardy and Clarkson could be seen having multiple conversations about whether to leave Clarkson in. Hardy elected to do so, and history was made (or broken?).
“You could definitely feel it,” Clarkson said of the crowd’s support. “We got the best fans in the league. … They talk basketball, they knew what was on the plate, and we had to deliver.”
2.) Spectacular Simo
After hitting a recent slump when he scored in double figures just once in seven games, Simone Fontecchio has put together back-to-back double-digit games.
He finished Sunday by tying his season-high with 24 points, shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 3-for-8 from three. He added six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.
After knocking down three threes in the first 12 minutes, Fontecchio used that to his advantage as the game continued. With the Mavericks constantly flying out at him on the perimeter, he looked very comfortable putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim.
3.) Quick Start
Entering the game, Utah ranked 17th in first-quarter scoring (28.4 ppg), while the Mavericks checked in at No. 7. (30.1 ppg). In their past five games, the Jazz had trailed after the opening 12 minutes in every one of them.
That wasn’t the case on Sunday.
Thanks to 14 points from Fontecchio, Utah overcame an early deficit and jumped out to a 37-26 lead. A Luka Doncic three gave the Mavericks an 11-8 lead, but Fontecchio answered with an and-one on the following possession. That bucket got the Jazz rolling as they went on a 16-8 run, punctuated by a Lauri Markkanen three.
Utah then closed the quarter on an 11-2 run as Walker Kessler got a couple of buckets and Keyonte George drilled a three. Clarkson ended the run with a putback dunk off a Kessler missed three.
“A really good team win,” Hardy said. “Obviously, based on how the last game went against them, a really big turnaround for our group. … I thought the approach was there this morning; I thought the approach was there pregame.”
4.) Assists Aplenty
As Hardy has alluded to multiple times, one of the primary reasons the Jazz have turned things around over the past 10 games has been their willingness to share the ball.
“I think the ball is just moving way more,” Hardy said. “I think everybody is comfortable with how we are playing, how we would like to play. … There’s not an anxiety about getting off the ball, everybody is just trying to make the right play and find open shots for our team.”
In the first 23 games of the year, Utah averaged 26.5 assists per game — but over the past 10, that number has jumped to 29.1. During the season, the Jazz rank ninth in the NBA at 27.3.
Those numbers were blown away against the Mavericks.
Utah recorded a season-high 37 assists, with four players notching six or more on the night. Their previous season-high was 35, doing it twice — Toronto (12.23) and Memphis (11.1)
Besides Clarkson’s 11, Kris Dunn finished with seven while Kelly Olynyk and Collin Sexton added six each.
5.) Exum Returns, Finally
In the Dec. 2019 trade that brought Clarkson to Salt Lake City, Dante Exum — along with draft picks — was the player who went to Cleveland. Although that may have been four years ago, Monday night was the first time Exum got to play against the team that drafted him in the city he called home.
Taken fifth overall in the 2014 draft, Exum played for the Jazz for 5.5 years, averaging 5.7 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.7 rebounds per game.Exum became a fan favorite of Jazz Nation. He always played with heart and hustle, endearing him to the fans for diving on the ground for loose balls and sacrificing his body.
After playing the previous two seasons overseas, Exum signed with the Mavericks during free agency this past summer. He’s made the most of his time in Dallas, emerging as a starter after averaging career-highs in points (9.1), rebounds (3.0) and three-point shooting (45.2%).
Sadly, he couldn’t finish the game on Monday as he left late in the second quarter with a right heel contusion.