Duke Basketball: Grayson Allen could be the spark the Utah Jazz need

The Utah Jazz have looked uninterested and lost in its first two games against the Houston Rockets and the energy they could use is on the bench in the former Duke Basketball star Grayson Allen.

In 96 minutes of basketball between Game 1 and Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz, the Jazz have been outscored by 52 points

In those two games, Utah’s best player, Donovan Mitchell, only has 30 points and the rest of the Jazz has looked uninterested and lethargic.

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As the series heads back to Utah starting tonight for Game 3, the home crowd should give the Jazz an advantage, but Head Coach Quin Snyder needs to try and inject some energy into his team and all he needs to do is look down the bench for rookie Grayson Allen.

Allen has only played mop-up minutes in this series, going scoreless in five minutes in Game 1, but then scoring nine points in ten minutes in Game 2.

Grayson Allen came on very strong in the last month of the season for the Jazz, posting games of 14, 23, and 40 points in three of the last five games, all career highs at the time of each game.

The rookie from Duke isn’t new to coming off the bench and into the spotlight as in his freshman season as a Blue Devil in 2015, Allen was virtually a non-factor for the majority of the regular season, but then exploded onto the scene at the Final Four.

Against Michigan State in the Final Four, Allen scored nine points in 17 minutes, in addition to grabbing five rebounds, however, that was just the beginning for Grayson Allen.

Allen followed up his breakout Final Four game, with an even better National Championship.

Coming off the bench once again, Allen was Duke’s second leading scorer with 16 points, but it was his energy and hustle that led the Blue Devils to a comeback win in the Championship Game.

Obviously the NBA is a different animal than College Basketball, but the Jazz are in desperate need for a win and Grayson Allen has the track record of giving a team a burst of energy when his team needs it most.

The Jazz and the Rockets are back on the floor on Saturday night in Utah at 10:30pm ET on ESPN.