Jazz bench posts history
In a wild night the Utah Jazz leaned on their bench and saw two reserves record triple‑doubles, a first of its kind in recent memory and a huge outlier in one game. Bez Mbeng poured in 27 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists while John Konchar added what was effectively a 10‑assist triple‑double line of 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 147–101 rout of the Grizzlies. It wasn’t just a box‑score quirk — the performance put bench depth squarely into the playoff‑readiness conversation for the Jazz. (x.com)
Utah emptied its bench and got something the National Basketball Association had never seen before: two reserve players from the same team finished with triple-doubles in the same game in a 147-101 win over Memphis on April 10. Bez Mbeng posted 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, and John Konchar added 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. (nba.com) That score was not a late-season squeaker with weird garbage-time stats piled on at the end. Utah led 74-52 at halftime, won every quarter, shot 56.4 percent from the field, and turned 16 Memphis turnovers into 17 points in a game that was basically decided before the fourth quarter. (nba.com) The strange part is who did it. Mbeng and Konchar both came off the sideline, which is basketball’s version of the second unit, and Utah still got 64 points from them while starters Blake Hinson, Kennedy Chandler, and Ace Bailey handled the first wave. (nba.com) Triple-doubles are already rare because one player has to hit double digits in three different box-score categories, usually points, rebounds, and assists. Getting two in one game from the same team is unusual on its own, and getting both from reserves is the part that pushed this into record-book territory. (statmuse.com) (ksl.com) Mbeng’s line was the louder one because the 27 points were a career high, and he did it efficiently with 11 made field goals on 20 attempts in 40:55. Konchar’s version was quieter but just as complete, with 10 assists against only 4 turnovers in 35:28. (nba.com) Utah needed that kind of improvisation because several regulars were unavailable. Lauri Markkanen was out with a left hamstring strain, Walker Kessler was out for rest, and Collin Sexton was listed with low-back injury management, which left the Jazz leaning hard on depth. (nba.com) Memphis was even thinner, and the box score shows how distorted the night became. The Grizzlies dressed a patchwork group, shot 21.2 percent from three-point range, and had no player score more than 21 points while Utah had five players at 23 points or more. (nba.com) That is why this game will stick around longer than a random April blowout. Utah snapped a 10-game losing streak, but the memorable part is that a team sitting at 22-59 found a one-night formula where the bench did almost everything at once: scoring, rebounding, and playmaking. (apnews.com) (espn.com) Konchar had already recorded a triple-double for Utah three days earlier against New Orleans, and then he did it again next to Mbeng against Memphis. In a league where most benches are built to survive a few minutes, the Jazz got a second unit that briefly looked like the whole engine. (statmuse.com)
