NBA basketball: Jimmer Fredette remains reflective after missing final shot

SALT LAKE CITY — The script couldn't have been written any better — the rookie returning home to a (mostly) adoring crowd and having the final shot win the game with less than five seconds left.

The EnergySolutions crowd, which had mixed feelings, wanting the Jazz to win, but also wanting returning hero Jimmer Fredette to play well, held its collective breath as Fredette's 3-pointer from the right angle floated towards the basket.

The ball didn't even come close, drifting way left of the basket — an airball — and the Jazz corralled the rebound and held on for a 96-93 victory.

The question on everyone's minds afterward was how could Fredette have missed so badly on the final shot. Was it nerves? A foul by Earl Watson?

In his usual humble manner, Fredette said there was "possibly some contact," but when pressed about it, he wouldn't give a definitive answer.

"Uh, I'm not going to answer anything about that, but obviously, the shot didn't go in and that's all that happened," he said. "We lost the game."

On whole, Fredette's return to Utah after his all-American, college-player-of-the-year season at BYU last year was a positive one. He scored 14 points, double his season average, and sank 3-of-5 from 3-point range and nearly had the game-winning basket.

Sacramento coach Keith Smart had plenty of nice things to say about his rookie, although he wasn't sure he wanted Fredette trying a 3-pointer with so much time — five seconds — left on the clock.

"There was a lot of time on the clock and as I said to him in the locker room, sometimes you don't need the game-winner," Smart said. "Sometimes you just need a two. But hey, we've got a first-year player in a situation trying to do the right thing and it's a whole different story if he makes that shot."

With regular guard Marcus Thornton out with a leg injury, Fredette made his fifth start of the season Saturday in an arena where he had played a handful of college games for BYU.

During the pregame introductions, Fredette received a warm welcome, as much applause as a visiting player ever gets.

However, the first time he got the ball on offense, some of the crowd reacted with what sounded a bit like "shoot" or more likely "boo." It was similar to the reaction Deron Williams received a couple of weeks earlier, though not as intense. It happened every time he got the ball.