SAN ANTONIO — The Utah Jazz did not play very well on Monday night. They put in just enough effort in the fourth quarter to make things a little interesting, but in the end they lost, 126-122, to a San Antonio Spurs team that just outworked them.
“They played better than us. They played very hard, they made a bunch of tough shots, they’re a well-coached, hard-playing, young team and credit to them,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “I think there’s nights in the NBA where you can’t seem to make a shot and we had one of those. But on top of that, we also need to have a better collective focus on the defensive end … I just don’t think we did that very well tonight, and the Spurs exposed it.”
That’s the game in a nutshell, but there were a lot of things not related to the product on the court that were noteworthy.
Will Hardy’s return to San Antonio
Since becoming an NBA head coach, Hardy has had many firsts that have been notable. But it was particularly special to go back to San Antonio, where he got his start as an intern when he was 22 years old, and where he was on staff with the Spurs for more than a decade.
Hardy noted how surreal it was to walk into AT&T Center knowing that he would be coaching across the court from some of his best friends and closest mentors.
“In some ways, it doesn’t even look like the same place when you’re on the other end of the court and come in through the other tunnel,” Hardy said. “So many good memories here. A lot of people that I love very much, a lot of people that were very good to me and my family. I came here 22, single, as an intern and left 11 years later, 33 years old, an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich on the bench, married, with a daughter and another one on the way. So in a lot of ways I feel like I grew up in San Antonio.”
After spending Christmas Eve and Christmas in San Antonio with wife, Spencer, and her family, they were all able to come to the arena and watch Hardy coach his first game in the building where everything started for him.
Popovich, who has had many of his assistants go on to become NBA head coaches, said he wasn’t surprised at all that Hardy made it into the head coaching ranks and that he was having success with the Jazz.
“He’s a highly intelligent person, who understands people,” Popovich said. “He can get a lot out of people and you could see that real quick when he started here in the film room.”
Delayed start
The game was set to tip off at 7:10 p.m. CT. But at 6:35, I was sitting courtside and noticed that the arena was almost completely empty. After some inquiries it turned out that the arena, parking lots and the surrounding area had been put on lockdown. Players had heard that maybe there had been a bomb threat or a scare of some sort but weren’t exactly sure what had happened.
“Due to a potential security threat, which has impacted fans entering the AT&T Center, the tip for tonight’s Spurs-Jazz game has been pushed to 7:40,” a statement from the team read.
Later, a San Antonio reporter confirmed that officials had been alerted to something suspicious involving a trash can outside the arena
The game started at 7:40.
We apologize to all of our fans who experienced delays entering the AT&T Center this evening,” Spurs CEO RC Buford said in a statement. “The safety of our guests is always of upmost importance. We’re pleased tonight’s issue has been resolved.”
Though the lockdown delayed the game and kind of interrupted the routine that players and coaches are use to, Hardy said that was absolutely no excuse for the Jazz’s performance.
“You do have a rhythm before the game and that got thrown off,” Hardy said. But we were made aware ... and we obviously want everybody to stay safe. And we’re not the only team that had to deal with that delay tonight. I think it does throw your rhythm off, but their team had to wait as well. So in no way is that a reason for the outcome.”
Mike Conley’s sleeves
When Mike Conley went out onto the court on Monday, it didn’t take Jazz fans any time at all to notice that something was missing — his shirt.
Conley has been wearing a compression shirt under his jersey for years. But on Monday he was not wearing it. Coincidentally, Conley had one of his best shooting performances of the season, going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc for a season-high tying 17 points.
Asked after the game why he switched things up, Conley said that he’d been watching some old clips of him playing the Spurs. He was watching clips from nine, ten years ago when he was on the Memphis Grizzlies and he noticed that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“I initially wore it because I hurt my shoulder and then just kept it,” Conley said, before cracking a few jokes. “It had been a part of me for so long, I knew it would be a big deal. I pulled my shirt off before the game and all my teammates were like, ‘wait a minute? what?’ I just kissed my biceps and kept it moving.”
So then the question was of course, does he continue on without the compression shirt?
“Got to,” Conley said.