CHICAGO - At the seeding games prior to the playoffs inside the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida last week, the Utah Jazz kept a diligent eye on the overall standings.
Per The Salt Lake City Tribune, the team went "to the tank" on some games to avoid a first-round collision course with the Houston Rockets.
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, according to reporter Eric Walden, favored a match-up with the Denver Nuggets.
After getting outlasted in Game 1, 135-125 in overtime last Tuesday, the idea seemed like post-season hara kiri.
Be careful what you wish for, right?
Fast forward to two games and the sixth-seed Utah is suddenly on top of third-seed Denver, 2-1 in their best-of-7 series.
Snyder was right all along. The Jazz are too quick on the perimeter for the Nuggets to contain and they showed their dominance by winning Games 2 and 3 by a combined margin of 56 points, 248-192.
SO WHAT CHANGED?
Unlike Game 1, where the ball got stuck in Donovan Mitchell's hands and limited the Jazz to a mere 18 assists, Games 2 and 3 turned into a festival of dimes as Utah produced a total of 59 assists.
With their spirited ball movement, cutting, and wide spacing, Utah's looks at the basket got more clear, and the shots kept falling.
After shooting just 47.4 percent from the field and 34 percent from deep, the Jazz have since made 51.4 percent of their shots in Games 2 and 3 (88-of-171) and 46.9 percent of their 3s (38-of-81).
"They're playing at a different level than us. We give in too easy. We have to be mentally tough," Nuggets coach Mike Malone told reporters.
THE SHOE IS ON THE OTHER FOOT.
The team that was supposed to succumb to the trauma of an exhausting Game 1 debacle is now back on its feet, inhaling its previous second wind, and wailing away at a worn-out, confused pack of Nuggets.
Mitchell is the top act with his 35 points per game average, but the Jazz are a band of many performers.
Rudy Gobert pockets 20 points and 9.3 rebounds per. Jordan Clarkson is good for 18 an outing while Joe Ingles and Georges Niang pool 23 together.
And with Mike Conley back (27 points in Game 3), the Jazz have even more rhythm on offense.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, are freefalling.
All-Stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray had a heroic effort in Game 1, combining for 65 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists between them. Since then, their Game 2 and 3 production has been reduced to a relatively austere 69 points, 24 rebounds and 22 assists.
Denver, as a whole, is struggling mightily - only 70 of 169 shots made (41 percent) and 25 of 65 from 3-land (38 percent).
The Nuggets, who play big ball with Jokic and Micheal Porter Jr, are being drawn outside by Jazz shooters and beaten off the dribble, clearing the lane for penetrations and kick-outs to wide open snipers.
On the other hand, Denver's penetrators are being funneled directly to Gobert, a nasty rim protector averaging two blocks a game. The tough interior has forced the Nuggets to make too many tough, contested outside shots, leaving them at the mercy of their low shooting percentages.
After a 139-point offensive rating in Game 2, the Jazz cooled off a little in Game 3 but their 135 points per 100 possessions romp was still good enough for a rout.
"I'm not coaching well enough. We're not playing well enough," coach Malone surrendered.
Still, Denver has two games to lose before bowing out. Who knows, maybe the coaching staff comes up with a workable adjustment in Game 4.
But right now, though, the forecast is bleak as a Colorado snowstorm.
You see defeat in Jokic's sleepy eyes, in Murray's bowed head, and in the sagged shoulders of those slumping Nuggets
Outplayed. Overwhelmed.
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