The Utah Jazz point guard is amidst a playoff duel against his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies, and with it comes all the emotions of revisiting the place where he played his first 12 seasons. The Jazz are up 2-1 in the series following a 121-111 road victory in Game 3 on Saturday.
Conley, in particular, was critical to his team’s success, filling the stat sheet with 27 points, punctuated by seven treys, six rebounds, and eight assists. It wasn’t his first time back inside the FedExForum in Memphis but the postseason has a way of drawing out a different level of intensity.
But the 33-year-old Conley is a veteran of the game and is locked in with the task at hand.
"When we start to compete all that stuff kinda goes out the window,” Conley said postgame about his emotions playing back in Memphis. "I thought I would be more wrapped up in it but at the same time, man, I was just there having fun and competing.
"Got into the flow of the game early. Saw a couple of shots go in and really found a good rhythm. Once that happens, just trying to feel out the game the rest of the way. It’s a great environment to play in, still one of my favorite places to play in. It was fun to be a part of it."
Conley has been nothing short of spectacular in three games so far in the playoffs. He’s pouring in 23.0 points on 44 percent shooting, drilling 4.3 triples, dishing 11.3 assists, and pulling down 5.3 rebounds in 35.3 minutes. Donovan Mitchell and Ja Morant have grabbed the headlines of this series, and rightfully so for being the face of their respective squads, but Conley has quietly been on a tear.
"I think the biggest thing is that he’s locked in. He just has a different look,” Mitchell said about the Jazz’s lead guard. "That’s one of the things that I saw from him in the bubble and I’ve seen a higher level now.”
Mitchell, who scored 29 points in the Game 3 win, assessed that Conley is both focused on playing at a high level while being appreciative of where his career started.
"He’s played for Memphis what, 13 years? At the end of the day, there’s still love. You can see it. There’s also love in competing against them,” Mitchell said. "I think it is impressive. It’s easy to be distracted. It’s easy to kind of sit there and, like I said, to have that emotion behind it.”
Mitchell went on to share that when Conley played in Memphis for the very first time wearing a Jazz uniform, the emotions were definitely heightened. He’s impressed seeing the difference of Conley’s approach now in the playoffs with much bigger stakes on the line.
"Over the last year especially in the bubble, it really allowed me to find my way and be there mentally before the game starts,” Conley said on his approach. “It’s a great challenge to play against a team like this, especially on the road in a place I’m familiar playing in. You know just go out there and go as hard as I can and if it’s enough to win I’m happy. I’m just gonna go out there and continue to do it."
Conley was drafted fourth overall in 2007 by the Grizzlies. With him at the helm in Memphis, he led the team to seven straight postseason appearances from 2011 to 2017. He was the catalyst of a different era of Grizzlies basketball that was known for its “grit and grind” identity.
It was fitting then that the 12,000 fans inside the FedExForum showed appreciation for their former point guard in the franchise’s first home playoff game in four years. The fans reportedly booed every Jazz starter except for Conley.
On the court, however, there was no love lost between Conley and his former Grizzlies teammates. Dillon Brooks, who’s coming into his own in these playoffs, was right in his grill, switching between him and Mitchell on the defensive end.
"Everybody from JV (Jonas Valanciunas) to Kyle (Anderson), and Dillon, and JJ (Jaren Jackson Jr.), it’s fun. It’s ironic that we’re getting to play at the highest level against each other like this,” Conley said about his former teammates. "All those guys compete. That’s one thing when I was here, whether it was in practice, shootaround, or anything, we were going at it. Dillon especially. He’s a guy that competes in everything."
As much as Conley is locked in the playoffs, he’s also aware of the serendipitous fortune of not only playing against a former team but also a young talent in Ja Morant.
"It’s amazing to be playing against Ja first off. Just seeing a guy so talented, [a] young superstar in our league — wearing the jersey that I’m so used to wearing, getting the cheers from the crowd that I’m used to hearing.
"It’s surreal, you know. It’s full circle. You never thought it would be this way. I never did, at least. It’s like sometimes you live long enough to become the villain and I’ve become that for the Memphis Grizzlies. Just gotta take that in stride and continue to do what I do and have fun with it, have fun with the game."
Conley and the Jazz will try to take a commanding 3-1 lead against the Grizzlies on Tuesday back at the FedExForum.
