The monstrous defensive team leads the Utah Jazz to 112-94, their 7th consecutive victory

Before Saturday night’s game against the Utah Jazz, all the media in Miami at a Zoom call asked Erik Spoelstra, Heat coach, about three-point shooting, 3-point shooting, 3-point shooting.

Maybe they should have asked for the defense.

On a night when the Jazz’s normally-fruitful offense splashed just a little, an epic closing effort was more than enough to win them to their seventh victory – 112-94.

It was Utah’s 18th win in its last 19 games and pushed the season to 22-5.

However, it was not like many of their previous ones, in which they simply buried their opponent with a three-point barrage. While Utah’s deep ball shooting would eventually come a bit, they were just 1 of 12 outside the arc in the first quarter and halftime 3 of 21.

Despite all the bricks, incredible defensive series from Rudy Gobert, Royce O’Neale – even Miye Oni – gave Utah the lead.

They picked up another notch after the break.

Miami’s first 14 possessions in the third quarter consisted of 11 missed shots and three touchdowns as the Jazz scored 16 straight points and at halftime converted a five-point lead to a 63-42 lead.

‘We’re a hell of a shooting team, but we know our shots will not drop a few games, [and] our defense is what we’re really going to keep in the games, ”said O’Neale, who also contributed eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks. ‘In the first half we were a little slower, and when we came in in the third quarter we knew we had to pick it up. It started with myself, and then everyone followed. ‘

Indeed, the Heat did not get a ball in the basket until there were only 5:51 left in the period, and in the quarter it was only 15 points in the five-for-20 shooting.

In the first quarter they got enough points from players – Bojan Bogdanovic got to the edge in the first quarter, Georges Niang hit some rare 3s, Mitchell had a personal 7-0 run to make the third open, Gobert hit his way to 11 points the fourth – that they could hold it early and then pull away late.

In the end, the Jazz finished just 12 of 46 (26.1%) of the three-point series for the game.

So added all the little things on the other side. O’Neale single-handedly (literally) stopped two transition opportunities from Miami by being in the right position and simply sweeping down and hitting the ball away.

“I just got my hands on it quickly, I think,” he said shyly when asked how he perfected his skill.

Meanwhile, Gobert had an incredible series in which he stimulated a 2-on-1 with All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

First, he does not respond to Butler’s ride to the edge, he remains well positioned and he succeeds. Despite biting on Adebayo’s pump-fake, an incredibly fast second jump enabled him to challenge the points ladder and force a miss. When Butler grabs the rebound and goes to fetch the bunny kick, Gobert swings it away.

Butler shot just 3 of 10 for the game, while Adebayo was 7 for 17.

‘Tonight was exactly one of the matches when they came out, they were very physical and punched us in the face. But we have no reaction to the fact that our shots would not fall, ”said Gobert, who finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. “We kept playing defense, we kept running and they kept attacking.”

With the 3s off target, the Jazz dug into their ever deeper toolbox and threw a bit of everything else at the problem. It started with that defense, of course (Miami shot only 40.7% overall and 12 of 36 from deep), but also the attack on the edge (54 points in the paint), exit in the transition (20 quick break points) and control over the boards (10 offensive setbacks yielded 13 second-chance points).

“Coach does a very good job of hitting the little things with us, whether it’s not with the judge to talk to a play, or to make sure we run back in defense or pass the extra make. And those little things come on a night-to-night basis, and that’s how you win games, ‘said Niang, who scored a season-high 14 points and five assists. ‘And other teams lose games because they refuse to hold each other accountable for doing those little things. And I think that’s one thing – especially after the playoffs last year, and we fortunately – that coach put his foot down on because he was All-Stars on the little things. ”