Isaiah Collier gave the Jazz something they’d been missing all night: a jolt.
With Utah buried under a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit, the rookie guard caught fire from deep and suddenly the Delta Center had life. Collier drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the period, trimming Miami’s lead to 101-93 with 6:42 remaining, and the building finally sounded like it had found a pulse.
It was a dramatic swing for a player who had entered the night 0-for-9 from 3-point range. Then, in the span of one quarter, he made four straight and turned what looked like another blowout loss into a real game.
The Jazz still fell 115-109, dropping their ninth straight and slipping to 1-10, but Collier’s burst at least gave the crowd something to cling to. For a fan base that has had precious little to celebrate, that mattered.
Collier ended with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting, along with five rebounds and five assists.
“Just trusting my work day in, day out,” Collier said. “For me, I live with my results.
Obviously it wasn’t fun in the first couple games. Obviously, it feels good to see one go in.
So, just trusting my work. Staying with it.
Staying consistent. That’s the biggest thing.”
The shooting touch didn’t come out of nowhere. Since Utah drafted Collier in 2024, he has been working on his 3-point shot, and he told The Salt Lake Tribune in training camp that he changed his release to make it quicker over the offseason. That work has continued once the season started, with extra reps after practice and at the end of shootarounds alongside the coaches.
Even with all that effort, the confidence hasn’t always been there. Before Tuesday, he had missed his first nine 3-point attempts of the season. In Utah’s previous game, there were chances to let it fly, but he passed them up or forced drives into traffic instead.
That hesitation has been part of the Jazz’s uneven start, and it has also affected Collier’s minutes. Before logging 24 minutes Tuesday, he had averaged 11.4 minutes per game in November.
The timing hasn’t been ideal. Last Monday, the Jazz declined Collier’s rookie option, which means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after this season. According to a source, he handled the news well and stayed composed through the uncertainty around his role.
Before Utah’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Collier said, “I’m young, I’m learning still,” Collier said before Utah’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks. “I feel like I trust him; I trust Will [Hardy] to make adjustments. ... So, I’m learning through it all and I feel like Will is doing a great job communicating with me … whenever my minutes come again, I’ll be ready.”
On Tuesday, those minutes came because the Jazz were missing four starters to injury. Utah’s thin bench has been a problem all season, and the numbers back it up: the team ranks No. 20 in the NBA in bench points per game at 33.7. Collier, Svi Mykhailiuk and Brice Sensabaugh have all had trouble scoring efficiently, and that has helped cost Utah games it might otherwise have had a shot to win.
For one night, though, Collier changed the tone.
Postgame, rookie Darryn Peterson answered “Isaiah,” when asked what sparked the comeback push. And Hardy made it clear he noticed the way Collier handled the moment.
“I think you can see the emotion that [Collier] plays with and shows how much it means to him,” Hardy said. “Zay has some things not go his way personally lately and he’s been an incredible teammate.
He’s worked really hard. He has not had one moment of complaining.
“You know, it’s amazing when you just kind of give yourself to the team that good things can happen.”
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