Utah Jazz Beat The Trail Blazers 109-105

Oct 9, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center

(42) and Utah Jazz center

(0) battle for a rebound during the first quarter of the game at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Jazz set out to show that their last win against the Portland Trail Blazers wasn’t a fluke.   They made their point with a 109-105 win on the road.  Jazz have had an issue playing on the road in the past, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come.  It was a fun game, so lets dive right in!

Main Points

• Derrick Favors is attacking the hoop with confidence so far.  Jazz fans have got to be excited about that.  He is such a physical specimen that him crashing to the hoop is very difficult to defend without being fouled.  In fact, if he plays like this all season he will lead the team in free throw attempts.  He team is doing a really good job at helping him get these looks.  Many of his attempts so far have come from players attacking at the 45.  Once the ball handler attacks from that point Favors defender is stepping up to contend and our players are quickly dishing to Favors for some beautiful dunks!  Derrick has really been good at catching those passes in traffic.  Favors ended the night with 19 points, 9 rebounds,  3 steals, and 1 block.

• Enes Kanter is showing something we didn’t see him from last year.  Full effort on defense!  He has look much better.  Contesting shots, getting in the right place, and he even had a nice pick today.  In fact, Kanter took the assignment to guard LaMarcus Aldridge most the night.  Now, I don’t think we will see Kanter guard the other teams best big most nights.  I do however think that the team is trying to show Kanter they believe he can defend.  Kanter is like the kid that works even harder once you tell him he is good at something.  Coach Snyder is doing a good job getting Snyder to work harder.  Kanter’s struggle this year will be making the right play.  He turned the ball over a lot tonight.  His shooting range has been impressive so far through out two games.  Enes finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds,  1 assist, and 5 TOs.

• Trey Burke has been attacking the basket at a multiplied rate this year.  He had three great drives to the hoop this game.  This is something he needs to do if he wants to ever become a top-ten point guard.  Burke didn’t wow me at all in this game.  But every time I looking at the box score I was surprised at what I had missed.  I am beginning to believe that this is what Trey will be.  He will be the guy that never blows you away, but doesn’t make mistakes.  This team will win games because of Burke’s  play this year.  Trey ended the game with 22 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds.  In fact, Trey Burke resurrected his clutch form and nailed a 3 with 30 seconds left to help win the game.

is looking wonderful this year.  Hayward is very intelligent.  He reads plays better than any other player on our team.  Playing in an open offense will really play to that strength.  Last year Hayward put up great numbers, excluding his shooting.  If he can increase his shooting percentages, he will be well worth the money we paid him this year.  Those percentages will increase with this offense.  Last year Hayward had to create a much higher amount of the offense than he was really cut out for.  This year the open, unselfish offense is giving him some easy and open looks.  Hayward is going to be a lot of fun to watch in this offense.  Don’t believe me?  Just check this dunk!

Hayward wrapped up a solid night with 14 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, a steal and a block.

• Alec Burks had a pretty good game.  He ended with 20 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, and 2 steals.  He got to the line 9 times tonight.  Many of these came from Burks attacking at the 45.  Actually, @PurpleAndBlues said it well:

• Important to point out that Damian Lillard did not play.

• Rodney Hood didn’t play.  He was said to be active, but clearly they don’t want to rush anything.

• Steve Novak is the world’s worst post defender.  Every time he was in at power forward, Portland would back him in for an easy bucket.

• Trevor Booker will be a huge fan favorite this year.  He simply plays his butt off.  Jeremy Evans wont get much time this year, and Booker is the reason.

• Dahntay Jones seems to have locked up the role as the veteran defender on the team.  They will throw him in to foul a player and try to take him out of a rhythm.  He will likely be replace by Hood in the rotation though.

• Rudy Gobert looked good tonight.  He had an amazing block  tonight.   In that same play he ran the entire court and caught a terrific alley-oop pass thrown by Jones.  Check out the sweet play right here:  We also saw a Rudy Gobert – Derrick Favors lineup that may be seen when the Jazz need a defensive stop.

• Dante Exum was exactly what we should expect from him this year.  Flashy and Shakey.  His speed causes so many issues for other teams.  He still hasn’t learned to harness that speed and use it against his enemies.  ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, who you should all be following on twitter, said it best: