Until today it averaged 3.9 points. It is his first season in the NBA, at the age of 26, and he came from Europe having been a level player there, but at the highest level. Del Baskonia left last summer in search of the great opportunity and fell to the Jazz in the middle of an aggressive reconstruction, without too many aspirations for the new campaign, with a rookie coach (Will Hardy), a manager wanting to move in the market (Danny Ainge) and a large group of players trying to get their head in the League. For example, it is Lauri Markkanen, a sensation in the EuroBasket as was Fontecchio’s Italy, and who due to illness could not participate in this game against the Warriors. Neither did Mike Conley, Rudy Gay was back. On the visiting side, Kerr rested Curry, Green and Wiggins and finished with another blur on the count. Because this was the complete scenario in which Simone was going to triumph over everyone else. He was going to have moments to play even though the competition is fierce, there are so many who want to stand out in the Jazz and the level is so even that Hardy will have a hard time elevating one over the other, and in the last four games he has spent 16 minutes on average over track. He was paving the way for him to mess it up one day, because he can, and that’s how it has been, although the result surprises by how and who.
124-123 was the final score. A thriller in a Vivint Arena that always rows in favor. Now that the Jazz are falling little by little after their spectacular start to the season, these victories are enjoyed more than any other because they show that the team is still alive. “We are an imperfect team, but we have heart. And the end of the game reflects it”said Hardy at the end and he is right. They continue, with a 15-13 balance, ahead of franchises like the Warriors in the West.
The Jazz finished off with no 1.4 seconds his rival with a dunk from Fontecchio on the counter in what was supposed to be the final play for the Warriors. The Italian shooting guard-forward was one of Utah’s main assets despite coming off as a substitute: 18 points. Beasley scored the same and Clarkson left at 22, the top scorer for the locals. On the opposite side, it was considered after finishing that an important chance had been lost, since the inertia of the last quarter was for them with the good comeback that they staged. A starting Poole (36) and a fighting Kuminga (24) were the highlights in the midst of so much absence, also noting that there was a return: that of James Wiseman to the main team after being sent to the G-League to improve. The victory breathes air into the Jazz, who in these four games with Fontecchio’s good presence add up to three wins, with a view to facing Rudy Gobert and his Minnesota Timberwolves in the next game, a valid measure of a team that was aggressive in the market precisely with the transfer of the French and to which things do not add up in what we have seen this season if we compare it with the courageous Yuta team.
The trend of the meeting was crazy. During the first two periods, the Jazz took partial victory only by pressing at the end of them, without clear dominance and only by taking the advantage in the final minutes. The score there was tight. In the third round the distance did get bigger, reaching +12. But the Warriors have a reel and they knew how to come back. On a bad night on the shot by Klay Thompson, who shot 25 and hit eight, the shooting guard was the leader in the chamber and his teammates did a good job to put the team in a winning position. And it came to the last minute and everything exploded. With a two lead for Golden State, Clarkson had the idea of penetrating against Kuminga’s defense, with the Congolese holding out well to block the attempt first and grab the ball later, and the Jazz man didn’t take it well and embraced aggressively to his rival, who stirred. The techniques resulting from this attempted punching left the responsibility to Fontecchio. He went for a 3-pointer after that and Thompson bolted him. And the distance rose to four with 13 seconds to go. It was time for Beasley to hit a 3 and force the Warriors to hold off on the last drive, which is just what they did. Alexander-Walker hit the ball while Jordan Poole collected it, it was left in the hands of Beasley and Fontecchio, already on the other side, just waited to jump towards happiness. A two-handed dunk to win capped off their match: 3/5 on shots of one, 3/4 on shots of two, 3/6 on shots of three. A beautiful story to liven up this Wednesday night.
