SALT LAKE CITY — It seemed fitting that in the end, in a do-or-die playoff game, Quin Snyder did what he has had to do all season: He patched together a lineup from his collection of no-name players and made a game of it, this time on the home floor of the best team in the NBA.
Only five points separated the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets with seven minutes left in the game Tuesday, when Donovan Mitchell — who scored 22 points in the third quarter — was injured. They went on to lose the game by 10 to end the season, but afterward opposing coaches and players joined a growing chorus around the league in praising the upstart Jazz.