When a player goes down on the court, writhing in pain, everyone watching holds their breath. That's what happened on Tuesday night during the Utah Jazz's 120-116 loss to the Dallas Mavericks when Tim Hardaway Jr. went down after sinking a three-pointer, backpedaling quickly, and stepping on coach Will Hardy's foot.
Hardy was immediately concerned and tried to offer help to Hardaway, but it led to a timeout on the court. Coach Hardy detailed what was going through his mind while the Jazz and Mavericks were each huddled up on their respective benches, and Hardaway's outlook was cloudy.
“If I’m being honest with you guys, it was really hard to concentrate in the timeout with our coaches and our staff because you’re just worried that you just seriously hurt somebody," Hardy said post-game. "I felt much better when Tim got up after their timeout and came back into the game. That gave me a little bit of relief but yeah, not my favorite moment of the game, for sure. But I’m glad that he’s okay.”
Indeed, Hardaway quickly returned to the game. For what it's worth, Hardy profusely apologized to both Hardaway and Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd.
Hardy was standing out of bounds when it happened.
"That’s never what you want to see," Hardy said. "You don’t want anybody to ever get hurt, especially when it’s on your foot. I was calling timeout. I was standing out of bounds. Obviously, there’s no malintent there. I love Tim as a player. But it’s not a good feeling, for sure."
It's a window into Hardy's character that he truly was agonizing over Hardaway's condition. It was a freakazoid play that nobody can anticipate.
"You’re nervous that he’s really hurt," Hardy said. "That’s why I apologized to Tim multiple times. I apologized to Jason multiple times. I want to be very clear that that’s just one of those freak plays. Tim’s a great athlete. He shot that shot and backpedaled so fast after he shot it and just kind of stepped right on my foot. But yeah, your heart sinks."
Hardaway had himself a heck of a game, even after appearing to tweak his ankle/foot. He finished with 24 points, sinking 7-of-9 three-pointers.
The Jazz fought hard and down to the wire, despite missing three starters. In the end, though, the Mavs hit the shots when they mattered most, and the Jazz didn't.
It was a fourth straight loss, but it still felt somewhat like a moral victory for Utah — if there is such a thing in the NBA. Although the Jazz received a Herculean performance from a few players, in the end, the absence of three starters was too much to overcome.
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