'That last step back was crazy': Sensabaugh electrified Jazz bench during win over Heat

MIAMI — Keyonte George hopped up and down in excitement, Taylor Hendricks covered his face in disbelief, and Collin Sexton's mouth hung open in a dumbfounded stare.

Brice Sensabaugh put an exclamation point on Utah's 136-100 win over the Heat with a deep step-back 3-pointer that had the Jazz buzzing Saturday in Miami.

The shot didn't just finish off the win, though, it put the finishing touches on his own career performance. Sensabaugh finished with a career-high 34 points, shooting 12-of-18 from the field and 7-of-11 from 3-point range.

He made sure to save his best shot for last.

"Obviously, the shot clock was still on, so we had to get one up," Sensabaugh said. "My legs were a little tired, so I knew I was I was gonna shoot a 3. So just got the quick step back to get a little separation going left and just let it go."

And let everyone else celebrate afterward.

"I mean, that last step back he had was crazy," Walker Kessler said.

So was his game as a whole.

It's the first time Sensabaugh eclipsed the 30-point mark in his young career; it's also the second time he's scored 20 or more points in the last four games, showing signs of consistency for the second-year wing. After hitting seven triples on Saturday, he's now shooting over 40% from 3-point range on the season.

"He's put in a lot of work," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "Last year, he didn't get as much opportunity as maybe he wanted, but he's continued to work on his game. He's continued to work on making quicker decisions with the ball, and then there are moments where his talent really shines through."

That was the case in the fourth quarter on Saturday when Sensabaugh went 7-for-10 from the field and hit five 3-pointers; he added an assist and a couple of steals in the final stanza, too.

And with each made shot, Utah's bench got more and more excited. The game was all but over in the fourth, so Sensabaugh gave his team something else to cheer about. Those cheers soon crescendoed into a crazed reaction in the final minute.

"Brice is continuing to expand his game," Hardy said. "He's a good shooter, he's a good ball handler, he's a good passer, and the work that he's doing speeding up his reads is allowing him to make more plays every night. Obviously, tonight was a really special one for him, and I thought it was fun to watch his teammates cheering for him, how excited they were for him. They recognized he had the hot hand and they kept going to him."

That wasn't lost on Sensabaugh, and neither was the fact that his veteran teammates made sure to secure the game ball so he'd have a memento of his career night.

"The older guys were looking out for me and grabbed that for me," Sensabaugh said. "It's just a testament to these guys and how much we care about each other and how much we're there for each other. We got a great locker room."

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