The entire Delta Center stood up as one man, convinced that they had seen Collin Sexton give the Jazz the lead with just over a second remaining against the Lakers. Wasted effort, the basket from behind Utah was of no use. Salt Lake City coach Will Hardy called a timeout during the action, annihilating what could have been the winning basket.
The frustration was great both for the Jazz technician and for his player at the time, when there were only 2.1 seconds left to play after the timeout. “I like to let the team do it when we have the rebound with 8-9 seconds left, you want to let them play” Hardy explained at a press conference. “ Usually my instinct is as soon as the ball carrier starts to move backwards, I call time out. But I just would have loved it if there were 3.5 seconds left and not 2.1 seconds left. »
In the action, Hardy let Sexton get the ball up for a while, before playing his one-on-one. The Lakers chose to “switch”, leaving Rui Hachimura on the former Cavaliers player. At the same time, Sexton takes a hesitant step before accelerating towards the circle when Will Hardy rushes to the scorer's table to call for a time-out. His player passed and scored the layup just after the referees blew the whistle.
“ It's hard because you don't know exactly how it would have ended if they hadn't blown the whistle and everyone had continued playing » Hardy continued. “ Maybe Collin would have made that shot. I told him in the locker room that I stole this moment from him“. Anthony Davis, present in the second curtain on this occasion, is in any case convinced, he would have “ probably countered » Sexton's attempt, if the referees had not intervened, he assured in the mixed zone.
Thinking he could find a better shooting position after having installed a system, Hardy was doubly “wrong” since he was surprised after the throw-in, the Lakers choosing not to switch, before Sexton stammered his dribble and was finally hampered by three Lakers on his last attempt.
Hardy had lamented the Jazz's lack of situational intelligence two weeks earlier…
“ This could have ended either way » put the Jazz player into perspective, whose anger at the time of the time-out announcement had already quickly given way to concentration. “ Coach Hardy thought I was a little stuck and called time out. It's one of those situations where if it goes well, great, but if not, it's up to me to call the time-out. So I don't blame him at all for doing it. I don't put the blame or responsibility on him. »
Without a real sporting objective this season, Utah will quickly forget the consequences of this choice, which places the Jazz a little further in the depths of the Western Conference, 14th, with one defeat less than the featherless Pelicans, but already four wins behind. Portland, 13th. But a prestigious victory against the Lakers would have given a little ray of sunshine in the midst of the defeats. Especially since Hardy had regretted during the last confrontation between the two teams the lack of “ ability to recognize and resolve problems collectively » after Dalton Knecht's big 3-point shot.
