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SALT LAKE CITY — Twenty-two years later, the Utah Jazz finally got revenge on the Chicago Bulls in a final.
Or something like that.
Jazz guard Mike Conley won the NBA HORSE Challenge, defeating Bulls guard Zach LaVine in the championship broadcast Thursday by ESPN.
Before the final, Jazz coach Quin Snyder had some advice for his point guard on how to win the competition.
“I know you got an array of shots to pull from,” Snyder said. “Don’t forget about the ambidextrous package.”
While Conley used “off-hand” shots to get through the first two rounds of the tournament, it was his creativity that brought him the championship.
Conley knocked off LaVine with a shot where he ran under the backboard and then scooped the ball behind him over the backboard and in. He used the same shot to knock off Tamika Catchings in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
That wasn’t the only time Conley got creative in the final.
He started things off by flipping the ball behind his back and off the glass for a layup. A shot LaVine couldn’t duplicate.
Conley also gave LaVine a letter by making an eyes-closed free throw and spinning the ball on his finger before punching it off the glass and into the hoop.
Behind the backboard ftw!#TeamMike | @espnpic.twitter.com/U2Q4drwVWe
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) April 17, 2020
“I did everything I could,” LaVine said afterward. “I got a real tough opponent in the championship. He had some stuff I hadn’t seen before.”
Conley did end up following his coach’s advice by making an off-hand corner 3 that LaVine couldn’t answer.
“It was fun,” Conley said on the broadcast. “It was good to see another NBA guy. Cooped up in the house, it was just good to see y’all.”
finger spin ➕
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) April 17, 2020
punch ➕
backboard =
𝙱𝚄𝙲𝙺𝙴𝚃#TeamMike | @espnpic.twitter.com/3gpzO2xwzU
Conley being ambidextrous wasn’t his only advantage. Of the eight players in the tournament, he was the only one shooting in an indoor gym. Conley is spending his time during the NBA hiatus at his home in Columbus, Ohio.
“Man, it’s cool,” Conley said. "Especially just being a part of the first one and being able to compete with these guys. … It was just a fun environment to be a part of. And give us all something to do.”
And everyone else something to watch.
