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Rodney Hood on Sunday night looked more like the Rodney Hood Jazz fans thought they would see for most of the season.

The Jazz shooting guard got to the rim, and made shots at the rim. He splashed 3-pointers from the perimeter, and generally played like a comfortable, up and coming shooting guard.

It may have been his best offensive performance of the season.

Once the Jazz' loss was complete, 104-98 in overtime, Hood had 23 points on 8-17 shooting. He made four shots from beyond the line, and he looked confident and assertive.

A lineup change may have spurred things on for the second year pro out of Duke. With Alec Burks at point guard, generating space by driving into the lane, Hood was able to find more freedom offensively. Instead of encountering a primary defender and a help defender waiting for him to drive into the paint, he saw less attention and that allowed him easier offensive opportunities.

"I was able to play off my teammates," Hood said. "I thought being able to attack closeouts and get into the lane was important, and I was able to get my shooting into a rhythm."

Hood's faced so many questions about his shooting of late. He's been in the biggest slump lately of almost any Jazz player.

So Utah fans had to be encouraged that Hood was able to put an entire offensive game together. Hood came into Sunday night averaging almost 12 points a game, but the skillset is there for much more production.

Also, Jazz coach Quin Snyder made a subtle change to Hood's rotation minutes, taking him out in the middle of the first quarter on Sunday night, and playing him in the second quarter with the second unit.

With Burks and Gordon Hayward sitting, Hood was the primary offensive option on that second unit, along with Trey Burke. It allowed many more touches and much more usage than he normally gets playing with the starters. It allowed him to feel the ball and get into a groove.

The Jazz can only hope this breakout game translates longterm.

Tony Jones