Defense fueled a second-half surge. Mosley details how turnovers ignited their comeback and offensive intensity against the Jazz.
On defense fueling the offense, especially turning turnovers into points in the second half:
"Yeah, second half was much better than the first. I thought we tried to exchange baskets too much early on. Got into the sprint game, the rat race with them, and then they put up 35 and 30, two quarters in those first two quarters. That wasn't who we are and who we needed to be. But in that second half being able to sit down and guard a little bit better."
On the team's three-point shots in the second quarter and what went wrong:
"Yeah, I didn't love them. I did not love the shots that we had. There was a ton a bunch of times we had open breaks advantage breaks and I think we settled but then you challenge them in that second half to come out and attack the basket and then we get downhill and end up getting to the free throw line just like we're capable of doing versus bailing guys out with the quick shots."
On the defensive activity leading to turnovers forced points off them, and combined steals and blocks from Banchero, Suggs, and Black:
"I just think we realized that our defense is that calling card tonight to make sure that we got the easy baskets. They were big at the rim. So us being able to score in transitions is what we needed to do and it had to start with our defensive effort and our energy and getting our hands on the basketball. Then executing on the break. We've got to continue to get better there. Just finishing in transition when we do cause those turnovers."
On the Jazz resting most of their starters in the fourth quarter:
"I really don't make anything of it. It goes in the right column for us right now and we've got to continue to get better at what we do. And I'm not too much concerned about what they do in that situation. It's about us trying to figure out a way to win the game."
On Moritz Wagner's spark after the offensive rebound off a missed free throw when down in the third quarter:
"Yeah, I thought Mo was excellent in that regard. Hit some big time threes. The energy he brought we said in that last huddle in the two-minute time, it was just get it to 10 and then by the quarter we end up getting it to seven. And so our mini goals in that situation is what kind of sparks this team to be able to look at just the small goals and try to achieve those versus trying to say just go find a way to win the game. Just do the mini goals. That's what's important."
On why it's sometimes a struggle to find those energy plays and spark momentum, especially when in a shooting rut:
"Yeah, I think it always takes a spark. Our crowd was great. When Mo made those big plays that got the energy up. We got a couple big stops. The energy was up. The crowd. Our fans are absolutely fantastic and we needed that. This is why the home stand is so important. When you can get that energy from the crowd, which our group is great, we needed that a ton."
On grinding out an ugly win and preferring prettier games versus learning in victories:
"I'd rather learn in a win like this than in a loss. And at the end of the day, our process has to continue to get better. I think we got out rebounded the rebounding count. I didn't love that they had 12 offensive rebounds and they were timely. When we gambled a few times there being able to sit down and just guard positionally and we can continue to get better there. But those are all small pieces that we're going to continue to improve on. And it's better to do it in a win than to look back and say why we lost the game."
On the team's resiliency coming back and battling through adversity:
"And that's what it is. And that's a great point. You have to battle through adversity. I don't care who you play in any game. There's game of runs. And how do you handle that within the game? Like you said, down 17, you just go for those mini goals. At the two-minute mark we talked about, let's just get it to 10. Those are the small things that these guys can grab a hold of and understand exactly what we need to do. Not trying to go for the big home run goal, but just small mini battles within the game to be able to take care of it and get it under control."
On Paolo Banchero leading the team in assists and facilitating effectively:
"I thought he was really good in that regard. Put the ball in his hands in the middle of the floor. Found Mo a couple times, found Tristan on a cut, found Dell on a cut, AB on a cut. I think those are things when we can continue to move off the ball, when he has the ball in the middle of the floor, he's trying to make that right play to find the right guy and that's what these guys did tonight. That's what he did."
On the Jazz getting several baskets off back cuts in the first three quarters:
"You're very right. They had about five of them. Game plan says send everything up the floor with these guys because they do a great job of cutting and moving. And so they read it the right way. They took one step up the floor. We got on the high side and they were able to make the pass. Now, that's a combination of two things. Is the man on the ball's got to have more pressure so he can't make the easy pass. And then that man that's guarding that back cut. You've got to send everything up the floor. You got to get underneath and force him into the ball handler."