Utah Jazz hold off Giannis Antetokounmpo's monster second half with Bojan Bogdanovic game winner

Author Photo
#Bogdanovic

Bojan Bogdanovic sunk the Milwaukee Bucks with a corner three as time expired in what was a wild night in Salt Lake City.

The win kept the Utah Jazz undefeated at home and kept the Bucks' winless streak on the road against the Jazz in tact. Milwaukee have not won in Salt Lake City since October 30, 2001.

Jazz come up clutch

This came down to late game execution.

When George Hill came up with a clutch steal on a Donovan Mitchell drive and immediately called timeout, the Bucks would have the ball with the scores tied at 100 and 2.3 seconds remaining – a situation that at worst, should see the game move to an extra period.

The Bucks would look for Khris Middleton in an extremely crowded right corner. 

Middleton turned and left his feet to fire but had Rudy Gobert in his airspace. Middleton attempted to pass the ball to Brook Lopez but would ultimately be called for the travel and the Jazz would have 1.3 seconds to win the game.

In complete contrast, Joe Ingles found Middleton napping on Bojan Bogdanovic, who dove to the left corner for a wide open catch-and-shoot game winner.

It was a rough 2.3 second for Middleton to say the least, and the Jazz walked away with a win.

Late game execution. 

The MVP refuses to be slowed

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been on an MVP-level tear to start the 2019-20 NBA season. Averaging 29.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 7.6 assists through the first eight games, he has been nearly unstoppable.

Though, in the first half against Utah, Antetokounmpo could not take a trick, going 0-for-7 from the field on the way to scoring just two points as the Utah defence led by Rudy Gobert shut down the paint and surged to a 55-35 lead.

In response, Antetokounmpo would score eight points in the first 3:04 of the third quarter, unlocking the keys to the paint, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and drawing a foul on Rudy Gobert on another paint attack.

The ominous start to the second half continued as Antetokounmpo would terrorise the Jazz, exploding for 28 second half points, finishing with 30 points, 13 rebounds and four assists on the night. 

Unfortunately for Milwaukee, the desperate Antetokounmpo fouled out with 53.9 seconds left, as he threw absolutely everything he had at the Jazz to lead the comback. It was the third time this season Antetokounmpo has fouled out.

Mike Conley finds the range

To say Mike Conley has struggled to find his shot to start the season would be very polite. 

The marquee offseason acquisition is taking some time getting acclimated in Salt Lake City but perhaps a meeting with the Milwaukee Bucks was all he needed.

Conley scorched the Milwaukee defence in the first half, pouring in 19 points on 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc. 

The lid coming off the basket had to feel good for the veteran guard, who was just 12-for-42 from deep coming in.

Author(s)