The Utah Jazz kicked off their longest homestand of the season with a convincing victory over the injury-ridden New Orleans Pelicans.
Despite being without Derrick Favors, who was a late scratch for the game due to personal reasons, the Utah Jazz began their four-game home stretch on a winning note on Saturday. With the 101-87 victory over Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans, the Jazz have fought their way back to a winning record.
While Trevor Booker stepped up admirably in Favors’ absence, it was Alec Burks that paced the Jazz with 21 efficient points. He was seemingly unguardable and got into the lane at will, both scoring and setting up teammates to lead his team to the win.
Rodney Hood had 15 points and Gordon Hayward chipped in with 17 point in the game. Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert had four blocks and 14 rebounds and Jeff Withey made his usual one-block appearance.
Davis led the Pelicans with 36 points, but the rest of the injury-plagued Pelicans squad barely got up. My biggest takeaway for the Pels–Davis needs help to get New Orleans back to their winning ways.
1) Booker Stepping Up in Favors’ Absence
Booker was assigned a daunting task on Saturday. The Jazz needed him to fill in for Favors and guard Davis and Booker was into it from the starting whistle. His game didn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet, but to quote Jazz coach Quin Snyder, “scoring portion aside, what he gives us defensively and on the glass and his emotion and his intensity–that’s what our team needs. I don’t care if he scores a point if he comes in the game and gives us that. Our team will score points.”
2) Quarters by Committee
The Jazz are doing something fascinating this season. A different person has been stepping up for the team in almost every quarter. Hood has been getting most of his points in the first quarters, while Burks scores most of his points in the fourth.
Trey Burke can and will shoot whenever he gets a chance, and has been very efficient. In between, Hayward and Favors have the green light to take over whenever they want. And Coach Quin has been staggering Hayward’s minutes, playing him for significant minutes with the bench (in the past two games).
This is a master move by Snyder and shows how quickly he adjusts to needs on the floor.
3) Jingles is Found Money
After four straight games of zero points, Joe Ingles made some big threes. With Ingles, it is more about the approach than ability. Ingles can score, but he would rather pass to a teammate. Such a mindset is good on a strong bench, but the Jazz need every bit of Ingles’ scoring to keep the scoreboard ticking.
His value to this Jazz team cannot be overstated.
Next: The Jazz Can Make a Big Statement During home Stretch
4) Splash Bros vs Wasatch Front
The Jazz now have the unenviable task of stopping the Golden State juggernaut. Can the Wartriors be stopped by the Wasatch Front (court)? If anything, it’s an intriguing contrast in philosophy–while most of the league is going small, the Jazz have added three players over six-foot-10 in the past year.
Last season, the Jazz successfully throttled Golden State in a January home game. The current Warriors team is better than their January 2015 team, but the same can be said of the Jazz. The game will definitely be a litmus test for the young Jazz.
The Stephen Curry of it all notwithstanding, Utah’s defense needs to be careful about screen-roll and draw and kick action, specifically on passes from Draymond Green when he rolls to the basket. They might challenge Green to beat them individually rather than helping out on the roll because Green is inevitably going to pass on the roll.
Either way, the Jazz will be in for a tough game against the undefeated Warriors.