When he got traded from the Grizzlies to the Jazz, Mike Conley tweeted, “Memphis is home. Always!”
He looked right at home Saturday.
In his first road playoff game in Memphis, Conley led Utah to a 121-111 Game 3 victory. The Jazz closed the game on a 14-2 run, winning their second straight after dropping the series opener.
No. 1 seeds up 2-1 on a No. 8 seed in a best-of-seven series have won the series all 16 times. Utah can get further separation in Game 4 Monday.
Conley (27 points and eight assists) steadied the Jazz with his shooting and savvy passing. Utah outscored the Grizzlies by 16 in his 36 minutes (and got outscored by six in the other 12 minutes).
Rudy Gobert (15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks) received half Conley’s assists. Though Memphis had some success at the rim against Gobert, that’s grading on a curve.
Donovan Mitchell (29 points on 9-of-23 shooting and five assists) was inefficient. But he hit big shots late after the Grizzlies took their first lead with five minutes left.
Ja Morant (28 points and seven assists) and Dillon Brooks (27 points before fouling out) played with supreme confidence. Morant even 360 dunked:
But the Jazz are the better team and made 44% of their 3-pointers.
That’s tough to overcome.