Utah Jazz vs. San Antonio Spurs: Keys to the Game

After defeating San Antonio on the road in their first match-up of the season, the Utah Jazz should feel confident in their rematch against the Spurs at home tonight.

Despite having lost ten straight road bouts against the Spurs, the Utah Jazz came out guns ablazing in San Antonio on Tuesday as they used a red hot first quarter and efficient fourth to pull out an incredible 106-91 victory.

It was a stellar performance that I for one did not see coming, having predicted the undefeated Spurs to win by a wide margin.

But instead the Jazz gave us all a glimpse of just how good they could be, especially when shots are falling and the defense is locked in. The Utah Jazz shot a scorching 48.4 percent from deep and logged 22 assists while holding the Spurs to just 30 percent shooting from behind the arc and 43.4 percent from the field.

It was nothing short of a statement win as the Utah Jazz showed that even without Gordon Hayward they are able to hang with and defeat the best of teams. And in an incredibly short turn-around, the Jazz and Spurs find themselves facing each other once again in tonight’s match-up.

This time, however, the game will be played within the friendly confines of Vivint Smart Home Arena in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah.

While the Spurs enjoyed two days off between contests to prepare for the rematch, the Jazz played a game the night after their big win over San Antonio against the Dallas Mavericks. And in similarly impressive fashion, the Jazz ran away with a 16-point win, thanks largely to an incredible fourth quarter.

So the Jazz should have no shortage of confidence going into tonight’s contest against the Spurs. Having defeated them just a few days earlier in enemy territory, Utah should be feeling pretty good about their chances.

On the other hand, a great team like the Spurs led by a legendary coach like Gregg Popovich will certainly be prepared to make critical adjustments and will be out for revenge for Tuesday’s beating. With that being the case, there are a handful of areas in which the Jazz will have to execute if they hope to improve to 2-0 against San Antonio and 4-2 overall on this young season.

I’ll be honest, with the last contest so fresh in our minds, there was a part of me that was tempted to simply say that the key to winning this game is for the Jazz to do exactly what they did on Tuesday, but let’s dive a little deeper, shall we?

Key Match-up – Rodney Hood and Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard was the guy I listed in the key match-up in my preview for the previous Jazz and Spurs match-up earlier in the week and his performance showed exactly why. Leonard finished with 30 points dropping five of the Spurs’ six made three-pointers. While it’s impressive that the Jazz held the rest of Leonard’s teammates to just one make from deep, they definitely weren’t able to slow down the Spurs deadly MVP candidate.

And while Rodney Hood isn’t exactly Leonard’s counterpart position-wise, he did log some time defending Leonard and was also a key piece of Utah’s success over the Spurs in Tuesday’s win. Hood finished with four threes of his own that contributed to his solid 19 points for the game.

And while George Hill has been the Jazz’s leading scorer and most consistent player so far this season, Rodney has largely set the offensive tone, especially early in games. In several instances it seems that as Hood goes, so go the Jazz.

This was particularly evident in Utah’s loss to the Clippers in which Hood shot a poor 2-of-10 from the field to put in just five points for the game.

So Utah will need Hood to be on point on offense once again, particularly from deep, if they are to defeat the Spurs, but they’ll also need him to play a key role in defending superstar Kawhi Leonard. It’s unlikely that the rest of the San Antonio squad will struggle as mightily as they did in Tuesday’s loss, so Hood and the Jazz will need to compensate by doing a better job of slowing down Kawhi.

Key Stat – Three-Point Percentage

Yes, the Utah Jazz were solid overall in Tuesday’s win, but more than anything they won the game due to the incredible discrepancy in three-point percentage. Not only did the Jazz shut down San Antonio from deep, but they also responded by catching fire from behind the line.

And it’s more than likely that Utah will need a similar shooting display and perimeter shutdown if they want to repeat. A major reason why the Jazz were able to hit so many threes was that they created several wide open looks for themselves due to exceptional ball movement throughout the game.

In many ways, the Jazz looked more “Spurs-like” in Tuesday’s win than the actual Spurs did themselves! Utah constantly swung the ball around the perimeter with incredible expertise which is how they were able to finish the game with 22 total assists.

It doesn’t seem likely that a team like the Spurs will put up back-to-back games with only six made three-pointers, but as long as Utah can control San Antonio from deep and win the three-ball battle overall, their chances at victory should remain high.

Key Performer – George Hill

I selected Hill as the key performer the last time these two teams met and he did not disappoint. He was the Jazz’s leading scorer compiling 22 points on a highly efficient 9-of-13 shooting night and willed this team to victory with an insane effort on both ends of the court.

As a former Spur himself, George Hill knows this San Antonio team well and he looked supremely confident in his first game against them as a Jazzman. I expect that confidence to carry over into this rematch and to rub off on the rest of his teammates.

Not only was Hill an efficient scorer in Tuesday’s win, but he contributed to the Jazz by taking care of the ball and being an excellent decision maker. He finished with seven assists and zero turnovers in 32 minutes of play. As Hill continues to prove his worth and leadership on this team, I expect he’ll have yet another big night in this rematch against his former squad.

Prediction – Jazz 95, Spurs 90

There’s a lot of reasons to pick the Spurs to win this one. They’re well-rested having not had a game since the last time these two teams met. They have one of the best coaches the league has ever seen in Gregg Popovich and they’ll certainly adjust and be prepared to take on the Jazz this time around.

It seems almost impossible that San Antonio could have as dismal of a shooting night from deep like the one they had last time these two teams met. And finally, given recent history between these two squads, it’s just hard to believe that the Jazz could ever be capable of beating the Spurs twice in one week.

So as I said, there’s a lot of reasons to go with the Spurs in this one. But you know what? Forget that, I’m throwing caution to the wind.

The Jazz looked mentally ready for the Spurs on Tuesday and they should be even more so this time around. I know it’s just a two-game winning streak, but dare I say, the Jazz have looked hot in their past two games, draining threes at an alarmingly high clip.

Not to mention, this game will be played on their home court in front of a crowd that hasn’t witnessed two such convincing wins back-to-back like the ones the Jazz put up in probably at least half a decade. Vivint Arena should be rocking, the Jazz should be confident and this is a special defense that appears to be getting into a groove that was strong enough even to disrupt the potent Spurs.

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So forget everything we know about past Jazz vs. Spurs match-ups. Forget the extra rest the Spurs had in preparation for this game and how good of a team they are. The Jazz offensive is starting to click, the defense is finding its groove and thanks largely to veterans such as George Hill and Joe Johnson, this team is learning how to close out in the fourth.

After watching the last two games, I’m changing my projection from the beginning of the week. I predict it will be a closer game than last time due to the Spurs adjustments and tuned up play, but in the end the Jazz will come out with a 95-90 win to improve to 4-2.

Tune in tonight at 7:00 PM MT to see if that truly turns out to be the case. Regardless of the outcome, it’s sure to be another exhilarating game as this revamped Jazz team continues its rise in the West.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com