Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 114-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans from Salt Lake Tribune beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Before and After
This game had the same rhythms as Monday night’s Jazz loss to the Pelicans: the Jazz got out to a double-digit lead at halftime, then grew it at the beginning of the fourth before putting it at risk again. This time, though, the Jazz put the game away. What was the difference?
Defense. After giving up a 116 defensive rating against New Orleans on Monday, they only allowed a 98 defensive rating on Wednesday. That’s absolutely the difference between a win and a loss.
What did the Jazz do differently? Well, they did their work earlier in possessions against Jrue Holiday, taking him from 30 points scored down to 16. Look at how well Joe Ingles does in this early possession to earn a turnover:
“Our first line of defense, all of our perimeter guys and guards, did a much better job of containing the ball," Quin Snyder said. "There was less separation. When they did get downhill, we did a better job of talking.”
That meant that the bigs sometimes switched out on guards, but they did a good job of that too. Gobert’s up on Holiday here, forces him to become a driver, then blocks his layup pretty easily.
That’s more like the Jazz’s defense I know. Certainly, the Jazz got luckier, too: the Pelicans didn’t make some of the 3-point shots they did on Monday, either. But when they force turnovers, get blocks, and are able to start transition opportunities, they’re a lot better.
2. Daily doubles
Another difference: the Jazz got good performances from two of their ballhandlers, and two of their big men.
Derrick Favors scored a season-high 25 points on 9-11 shooting, once again a massive threat rolling to the rim and finishing on either side. He really keyed the Jazz’s fourth-quarter run that pushed the lead to 14.
Rudy Gobert keyed the Jazz’s second-quarter run, though, when they finished the half 19-8 on the back of some really solid defense. We also saw some good finishes from him in traffic, something he’s struggled with recently.
Donovan Mitchell told Gobert that he wanted to start dunking on people. “That’s what he tells me to do, to dunk on everyone.”
“Sometimes you have to stop overthinking and try to go over someone or through someone, and that’s what I did,” Gobert said.
The Jazz also had two players with 10 assists: Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles. Neither had big scoring nights — Rubio had nine points, Ingles 10 — but their passing made it possible for the Jazz to score efficiently again. It’s the first time since 2008 that the Jazz have had two players with 10 assists or more in a game.
We’ve talked plenty about Ingles’ pick-and-roll skills recently, and they were on display again. I love this scoop layup pass, which looks identical to his usual left-hand layup form.
But Rubio’s passing was just as valuable, and he may have had a greater variety of assists, too. Rubio’s assists frequently came in transition, and he’s really good at noticing where an advantage might come from in the first few seconds of a possession.
Against these teams where the Jazz’s big men have an advantage, their offense can really get clicking. It’s against switching defenses, or drop-big defenses, where the Jazz have the hardest time.
3. Make sure to phrase your response in the form of a question
So, there are 18 games left in the Jazz’s season, and they’re favored in 17 of them. Given the easy schedule, they’ll probably win a majority of them. Whether or not they earn home-court advantage in the first round will likely come down to one game, maybe two.
But Jazz fans are very familiar with this team right now; after all, we’ve essentially seen this same team for 150 games or so now, once you combine the regular season games with last year’s playoffs. We know their strengths and weaknesses well. The departure of Jonas Jerebko and Alec Burks haven’t made much of a difference, nor has the addition of Georges Niang. Kyle Korver is newer, but as a 38-year-old veteran, and a second-time member of the team, we’re pretty familiar with what he brings.
So what do the Jazz have left to do in the regular season? Are there players to learn more about, or combinations to try, or wrinkles to add in these next 18 games?
Here are some questions I’ll be looking to answer:
Can Dante Exum come back and re-establish the level of play to where it was in late December?
Will the Jazz finish games with Rubio at the helm or will they try Mitchell at point guard lineups? How do those lineups do? Is Korver or Royce O’Neale (or Exum?) the fifth guy around Mitchell/Ingles/Crowder/Gobert?
Can Mitchell develop his pick-and-roll game some, and his chemistry with Favors and Gobert?
Will O’Neale develop a consistent level of offensive or defensive aggression?
If you have any others, feel free to add them to the comments. Oh, and give thoughts and prayers to Alex Trebek at this difficult time.
