Key Performer – George Hill
In both victories over the Wolves so far this season, George Hill has clearly stood out as Utah’s top performer. Part of this has to do with the fact that Hill is primarily matched up against Ricky Rubio. And while Rubio is a solid passer and playmaker, he’s not exactly known for his defensive prowess and is also far from being a shooting threat on offense meaning that Hill won’t have to worry too much about being overworked defensively.
Although Hill had finally looked as if he was breaking out of his slump given his recent play, he had a rough go last night against the Thunder converting on just 6-of-15 attempts from the field while going a putrid 0-of-4 from deep. Of course, this is somewhat to be expected considering how much guarding Russell Westbrook demands of him, but there’s still no questioning that it was a disappointing showing.
George Hill declined to discuss potential future in Utah: "I don't want to talk about none of that. I'm just here to win games right now."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) March 1, 2017
However, that frustrating night may very well fuel a bounce-back game for Hill and with Rubio not even set to give him half the headache that Westbrook did, I expect Hill to be dialed in and firing on all cylinders, leading the Jazz as their top performer against the Timberwolves once again.