RotoWire – Jeff Edgerton

Red-hot Jazz Gaming had no trouble reaching the quarterfinal of THE TURN, powered by AT&T. Conversely, Hornets Venom GC had their share of problems with Bucks Gaming and were it not for some bad clock management in the second game of Friday’s series, the Bucks would be here instead. Snubby and company needed to get the momentum and keep it if they hoped to stand up to Splashy, Rai and the rest of the talented Jazz roster. The Jazz proved to be too hot to stop Friday, as they blitzed the Hornets in a 2-0 sweep.

The Hornets continued from where they left off in Game 3 on Friday, looking sharp against the Jazz defense. The Venom opted to double-team Splashy often, which often worked enough to be useful, but Rai was able to take advantage as the open man more than once when they moved Zae in as a second-level spy on the Jazz point guard. Snubby and Zae excelled in the first frame, giving the Hornets an 18-9 lead. The Jazz and the Hornets looked uncharacteristically porous inside as both teams were able to slip the seam and get open in the paint, and they traded baskets throughout most of the second quarter. The momentum shifted a bit when Lotty converted a three-point play after getting fouled on a slam dunk, and the Jazz closed the gap to four points. The Hornets remained on top, 39-33 as the half ended, spurred by 20 points from Snubby in the first twelve minutes.

The Jazz finally woke up in the third quarter and eventually pulled out to a four-point lead with a minute left in the frame, due in large part to Splashy and Rai. Snubby converted a layup in the closing seconds to narrow the Jazz’s lead to one going into the final six minutes. The Jazz would need to find a way to stop Snubby in the final quarter, as he had already put up 31 points and showed no signs of slowing down. The Jazz continued to play clean defense in the fourth quarter and inched tier lead up to six points with two minutes left, and despite the Hornets’ best efforts, they could not shut Splashy down. He drained one of his many treys to extend their lead to seven points, and Lord Beezus helped to seal the deal with a key 3-pointer and a steal with under a minute remaining. The Jazz took Game 1 down by a score of 76-65. Despite a huge 33-point game by Snubby, Splashy’s 30 points and Lotty’s 19 points represented the superior backcourt attack in this contest. The Hornets were thwarted by 20 costly turnovers against the stalwart Jazz defense.

Ready to seal the deal, the Jazz started off the game with an alley-oop from Splashy to Rai, and thanks to poor shot selection from the Venom, the Jazz jumped out to a 12-2 lead early. The Hornets could only manage seven points in the first half as they struggled to get even high-percentage shots to fall. In a dominating showing, the Jazz led the Hornets 20-7 at the end of the first quarter. The Jazz also held Snubby to zero points in the frame. The bleeding continued for the Hornets as the Jazz continued to pour on the gas, extending their lead to 24 midway through the second quarter. With Snubby on a cold ring, the Hornets’ offense was almost completely neutralized, and barring a significant turnaround, the Jazz seemed destined for a berth to the semifinals. At halftime, only Zae seemed to be having any success against the Jazz, and helped by Spashy’s four 3-pointers, the Jazz went to the locker room with a decisive 55-20 lead.

With 2:30 remaining in the third quarter, the Jazz possessed a staggering 40-point lead and all five players managed double-digit scoring. The Hornets managed to gain a little bit of ground in the fourth quarter, but the deficit proved to be too massive, and the Jazz would go on to sweep the series, 2-0. Snubby was held to only five points in the loss, while Splashy, Yeah I Compete and Ria all scored 20 or more points for the Jazz. The Jazz shot 67 percent from the floor and converted 54 percent from 3-point range.