Utah Jazz Escape With Less Than Convincing Victory over LA

While it was good to see the Utah Jazz log a victory in their 2016-17 home opener, aside from a few bright points, the win was certainly less than convincing.

The Utah Jazz needed a solid fourth quarter to close out the Los Angeles Lakers 96-89 in their home opener on Friday night. And what a fourth quarter it was.

George Hill led the charge as he relentlessly attacked the rim and made key plays on both ends of the floor including taking a huge charge against Luol Deng down the stretch and blocking a Lou Williams shot then throwing the ball off of his leg out of bounds to give possession to the Jazz. He was the night’s leading scorer with 23 points on 7 of 14 shooting from the field.

And while it might not have been as noticeable, Hill’s lockdown D held Lakers starting point guard D’Angelo Russell to just 3-of-14 shooting from the field. Pretty impressive, especially given that Russell finished with 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting in his previous game.

So the Jazz managed to win their home opener and improve to 1-1 on the year thanks largely to Hill and an impressive 31-point fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the other three quarters weren’t nearly as pretty.

Now I know that it’s early and that this Laker team is undoubtedly better than it was last season, but if the Jazz really hope to be a contender in the West, they’re really going to have to start taking care of business for 48 minutes, especially against teams that are clearly of a lesser caliber such as the Lakers.

For 36 minutes, Los Angeles looked every bit the Jazz’s equal and the reality is, with all the depth and length Utah boasts, that shouldn’t be the case.

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The game featured 12 ties and 20 lead changes, a clear indicator of just what a back-and-forth bout it was. And though the Jazz were favored to win before news of Favors’ likelihood to play was announced, it’s quite possible that they may not have actually won without him.

Despite logging a limited 20 minutes off the bench as an injury precaution, Derrick Favors was extremely effective and efficient putting in 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. His notable emotion and passion were critical as he kept Utah afloat during a number of tightly contested stretches throughout the game.

Rudy Gobert put up his second straight double-double with a robust 13-point, 13-rebound outing along with four blocks. Despite experiencing a significant slump during the middle portion of the game, Rodney Hood finished with a respectable 15 points and while Joe Johnson didn’t have nearly the game that he did in the season opener, he came up big when it counted and still finished in double figures with 11.

The most reassuring aspect of the win was that the Jazz were in fact able to capitalize on fourth quarter momentum and seal the deal. Utah struggled mightily last season in close-game situations and often faltered in the final minutes as they failed to close out their opponents.

So while it wasn’t all that convincing of a victory, it was at least encouraging to see the Jazz finally take care of business in the final period. The addition of veterans such as Hill and Johnson will most certainly continue to remedy this and will hopefully help the Jazz entirely buck the choking trend that they exhibited several times last season.

Nevertheless, in many ways this game never should have been one that went down to the wire. The Jazz had several chances to pull away in the second and third quarters but never really did so. With that being the case, there are a number of issues that they’ll need to shore up as they prepare for a grueling month of November.

First of all, Boris Diaw once again looked lost, finishing without a point and just one field goal attempt. It’s hard to see him getting the nod as starter again after Favors’ incredible performance, so perhaps a shift into the second rotation will help Diaw regain his groove. He doesn’t have to be a big-time scorer for the Jazz, but he needs to be a useful, consistent and reliable cog in their offense.

And while Utah’s defense was where it needed to be, the offense was less than impressive. The Jazz finished shooting just 24% from deep, which wasn’t greatly helped by Hill shooting just 2-of-7 from behind the arc himself.

If history is any indicator, we should see Hill’s three-point percentage rise dramatically and it’s hard to knock him after he almost single-handedly willed the Jazz to victory, but he needs to set the tone from the three-point line and help drastically improve that figure for the Jazz.

Beyond that the other concerning element about the Jazz’s performance was a visible lack of energy and focus that seemed to be what kept the Lakers in the game until the end.

Favors was the biggest spark off the bench, but he won’t typically be a reserve player moving forward. Shelvin Mack played well with the second unit, but it’s clear that the Jazz need someone to consistently give them life when the game starts to slow down and drag.

Maybe that guy will be Diaw or Johnson once they return to the second unit. Maybe it will be Alec Burks once he’s healthy. No matter who it is, though, both the bench and starters need to maintain the same energy and hustle that George Hill brought in the fourth quarter throughout the entire game.

Until Utah gets healthy and can play in that way, they may have some rough times ahead. They’ll have to play a lot better than they did at home against the Lakers if they hope to steal a win from the much more talented Clippers in Staples Center on Sunday afternoon.

It’s definitely too early to confirm or dispel the hype that surrounded the Jazz this offseason, but after Friday’s narrow win, one thing is clear. They aren’t that team that received so much praise just yet.

That doesn’t mean they can’t still become that. Joe Johnson was phenomenal against Portland. Hill was great against LA. Gobert and Hood have been solid. Two key guys (plus Favors) are still on the mend from injury. If all the positives come together and the negatives start to dissolve, this could still be a very scary Jazz team.

Nevertheless, the close escape from the Lakers on Friday indicates that there’s still much to be done. Hopefully Utah can get some of its issues resolved quickly as a daunting Clipper team that recently bullied the Portland Trail Blazers on their home court is waiting to welcome in the Jazz for their home opener in LA.

And although Utah managed to beat the Clippers twice in the preseason, no one should expect it to be so easy this time around.

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If the Jazz hope to come out with a victory in that contest, it will take a whole lot more that a few solid minutes from George Hill in the final period. It will take improvements on almost everything we saw for three whole quarters in the win over the Lakers.

Utah managed to escape in its home opener, but it will take a lot more if they hope to avoid sliding below .500 in their second contest.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com