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SALT LAKE CITY — For years, Derrick Favors played on methodical, defensive-driven Utah Jazz teams. As the league went toward a small-ball style, the Jazz countered with Favors and Rudy Gobert as two throwback bigs.
Favors was only away from the team for one season, but, oh, how things have changed.
"It's definitely a different style of play since I was here two years ago," Favors said. "Guys getting a lot of threes, you got guys that can attack the paint, create open shots. … It's a different feeling."
What's different? Well, by the time you finish reading this sentence, the Utah Jazz will probably have shot another 3-pointer — or five.
The Jazz shot more than 30 3-pointers in the first half — the second time in three preseason games they've hit that mark — and shot 52 total as they beat the Los Angeles Clippers 125-105 Thursday in their final preseason game.
"I mean, coach been stressing it to us since we've been in a bubble— I think that was kind of the start of it," said Jordan Clarkson, who shot 12 3-pointers in the win. "Just coming into this preseason just trying to find an identity, just emphasizing them on the offensive end. Those shots are good for us."
As training camp started, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said he was putting a bigger emphasis on getting up more deep shots. A few days later, Bojan Bogdanovic confirmed that and said his coach wanted him to take even more than the career-high seven he averaged in his first year with the Jazz.
Once the tuneup games began, it was clear the Jazz had taken that message to heart. The Jazz shot 31 threes in the first half of their first preseason game — a number they matched on Thursday, again.
"Of course that is fun, but it's also kind of a small, tiny line between taking wild shots and good shots that early in the offense," said Bogdanovic, who was 5-of-9 from deep.
Under Snyder, the Jazz have relied heavily on "the blender" and extra passes to generate offense. Those same principles are still there, but, now, the Jazz are hunting for shots earlier in the clock.
If Bogdanovic or Donovan Mitchell or Clarkson or Mike Conley or, really, any at this point (the Jazz had 10 players attempt at least two 3-pointers on Thursday), has some air space on the perimeter, it appears the Jazz are just fine taking that shot — even if it comes with 20 seconds left on the shot clock.
In the first half on Thursday, 66% of Utah's shots were from behind the 3-point line. Last season, with the Jazz having predominantly the same roster, they took a 3-point shot on just 41% of shot attempts.
But that doesn't mean there aren't still bad 3-point shots. Yes, Snyder wants more threes — he even joked before Utah's first preseason game that even he could figure out the best 3-point shooting team in the league last season should increase its volume of deep shots — but he doesn't mean everyone has a green light all the time.
Snyder said "threes are good, but the rim is better," and the Jazz are using the deep shot to help open up lanes. But if defenses choose to stick with drives and rolls to the rim, then his players better be prepared to fire away.
"We don't want to shoot them for the sake of shooting them. But we've got some guys that can shoot them and we want them to do just that," Snyder said.
Utah went 13-of-31 from deep in the first half and finished the game 24-of-52. Those percentages are plenty high to keep the new identity rolling.
Bogdanovic and Clarkson led the Jazz with 20 points, Donovan Mitchell finished with 15 (he was 3-of-6 from 3-point range) and Mike Conley had 12 points — all from four 3-pointers.
"We're doing a great job of taking them and making them as well. So we're just trying to set an identity and keep it flowing and keep getting better at it," Clarkson said.
