Having Mike Conley on the court will help the Jazz get off to a fast start in games
Veteran point guard Mike Conley left Game 5 of Utah’s first-round matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies due to right hamstring tightness and the Jazz later revealed that he is dealing with a mild right hamstring strain. This ultimately forced Conley to miss Game 1 against the Clippers on Tuesday night and they were surely missing his presence early on in the game.
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Conley definitely does not get enough credit for what he does for the Jazz because he not only facilitates everything on offense, but he is one of their best perimeter defenders. Without him, Utah looked a little lost early on in this game and on offense, they did not really have anybody facilitating and making plays for others.
There was too much standing around and as a result, they were not able to get anything going offensively and found themselves down double-digits for most of the first-half. Moving forward in this series, Utah is not going to want to play from behind in every single game, which is why when they get Conley back, they are going to be able to get off to fast starts against the Clippers.
Utah looked solid defensively early on, but the shots just were not falling for them on the offensive-end of the court. This is not going to happen a lot in this series and when Conley returns, they will be able to do what they do best and push the tempo on offense and transition.
From being able to make plays for others, to being able to knock down shots on his own ,to being able to be one of their better defensive stoppers on the perimeter, Mike Conley does a little bit of everything to help the Jazz win games, which is why they are going to be just fine when he returns to action.