SALT LAKE CITY — Save two bubble games against the San Antonio Spurs in which Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder used mostly end-of-the-bench players, rookie Juwan Morgan played just 41 minutes the entire regular season.
That’s certainly a lot of steps removed from starting in your first-ever playoff game, but that’s the position Morgan found himself in Monday as the Jazz opened the postseason against the Denver Nuggets in Orlando.
With Mike Conley in Ohio after his wife gave birth early Sunday, Snyder called on Morgan to be in his first five, and not only did Morgan manage, but he outright excelled.