Thoughts from David Locke after the Utah Jazz win against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Summary: In one of the most physical regular season games you can imagine, the Jazz took over late behind three straight three-pointers from Diaw, Hayward and Mack to beat the Grizzlies, 81-72.

The Jazz’s starting lineup of Exum, Hood, Hayward, Diaw and Gobert has been really good together, and they started the game on an 18-6 run. The Grizzlies fired back on a 12-0 run to close the quarter and from there, the game was within four points until the final minutes of the fourth quarter when the Jazz busted it open.

Rudy Gobert was unreal. Defensively, he was the primary defender on Marc Gasol who went 4 for 22. Offensively, his rim-rolls are changing everything. Gobert was 9 for 9 shooting and had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Gobert’s presence around the rim is also opening up things for his teammates. Mack had a drive to the basket where Gasol left the help defense to protect against Gobert and Mack went straight to the rim for a layup.

The Jazz’s defense was amazing. The Grizzlies had an offensive rating under 80 tonight. The Grizzlies shot 28 of 93 for 30% and, more importantly, 2 of 23 from three.

This game was a boxing match; It was an incredible fight. The battle on the glass was a blood bath and there was physical play on every cut. You couldn’t do anything without getting blasted, and the Jazz showed they had the mental fortitude to withstand this game and match with their own physicality.

In the first three quarters, the Grizzlies had nine offensive rebounds. In the fourth quarter, they had 10. They had nine in the opening seven minutes of the fourth quarter alone.

The game was tied at 66 with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter — yes, FOURTH quarter. The Jazz got a stop after the Grizzlies got three chances in a possession, and then Diaw hit a three to make it 69-66. Tony Allen missed and Hood missed two attempts, but Gasol threw away the outlet and the Jazz got another chance. Hayward hit a three to make it 72-66 with 2:59 left. Gasol answered, but the Jazz came back with a Shelvin Mack three to make it 75-68. The Jazz got a stop and then Conley flopped, drawing a foul on Hayward. Conley got two free throws and it was 75-70, and Mack found Gobert for great layup and the Jazz win.

That is an incredible stretch. The Jazz scored 13 point in nine possessions against the number one defensive team in the NBA

The Grizzlies don’t lose these games. In games that were within three points in the final three minutes over the past six years, Memphis is 119-60. In games within five points with five minutes to play, they are 156-87. For the Jazz to win in Memphis without their starting point guard is awesome.

The Jazz have won 11 of 13.

The Jazz played without a point guard for a while, and played Gobert and Favors together.

All this and I haven’t mentioned Gordon Hayward yet. He had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. The only player to do that this year is Anthony Davis. Hayward also had nine free throw attempts.

Mike Conley looked rusty in his second game back and shot 3 for 16.

I still don’t quite understand how but Boris Diaw helps you win games.

It is going to be interesting to see if Lyles and Exum get minutes as the season goes on. Young players traditionally don’t get a lot of time on really good teams in the final 20 games of the regular season. Good teams don’t have the patience for the mistakes that are natural for young players. This is not a statement about either of their futures, it is only a comment in regards to young players playing on a really good team late in the season in big games. That doesn’t usually happen.