Utah Jazz Perfectly Exemplify “Next Man Up” Mentality

The Utah Jazz victory over the Portland Trail Blazers last night perfectly exemplified the “next man up” mentality that they’ve exhibited all season long.

After going through a disappointing stretch near the end of March in which the Utah Jazz lost four out of five games that culminated with a dismal defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers, the team was in desperate need of some wins if they hoped to keep hold of the fourth seed in the West.

Fortunately, they’ve been able to do just that as Utah’s victory last night marked their fourth win in five games, with the only loss coming to the San Antonio Spurs in a game that was closely contested despite the fact that the Jazz really didn’t play that well. While each of those four victories had some bright moments and positive takeaways, perhaps the most impressive was Utah’s most recent victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Blazers have been one of the hottest teams in the league as they posted a league-best 13-3 record during the month of March which has allowed them to surge into eighth place in the West. However, last night they certainly didn’t look like that team as they were toppled by the Jazz by a score of 106-87.

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/849460745788153856

True, they were coming in on the second night of a back-to-back after falling to Minnesota on Monday night, but they were dealing with a more troubling issue that likely had a lot more to do with the loss.

Recently acquired center Jusuf Nurkic, who had been absolutely phenomenal for the Blazers during their big run, recently suffered a fibular fracture in his right leg which would reportedly have him sidelined for at least two weeks. Consequently, he did not play in last night’s contest against the Jazz and his absence is what most severely hindered the Blazers.

Not only did they miss the 15.2 points per game that he has put up as a Blazer, but Portland was thoroughly dominated on the boards as the Jazz finished with a 47-28 rebound advantage. Nurkic’s absence left an enormous hole for the Blazers on both ends of the floor and it was evident all night long.

If you needed any further proof, check out this nearly uncontested coast to coast that Jazz center Rudy Gobert was able to put up given that Portland had no formidable stoppers in the paint:

For a guy not normally known as a ball-handler, that was an impressive play and a dismal defensive showing by Portland.

Thus, under regular circumstances, the Blazers would be perfectly justified in blaming a large measure of their woes against the Jazz on the fact that they were missing Nurkic who has established himself as a key starter and an influential piece of their success. However, if they were to do so this time, they’d receive little sympathy from the Utah Jazz.

In that very same contest, Utah was down three starters in George Hill, Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood, along with key bench player Raul Neto. Sure, Nurkic’s absence was detrimental, but he certainly isn’t as valuable as three starters. With Utah being down so many important players, it would have been easy to presume that Portland would have a key advantage and likely be able to come away with an easy win over the Jazz, but of course such was far from the case.

So how was Utah able to pull off a 19-point victory even with so many injuries? Simply put, because the Jazz perfectly executed a next-man up mentality and several guys were able to step up in a big way.

Not only did Utah’s pair of stars, Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert, shoulder more than their normal load by putting up 30 and 20 points respectively, but several Jazz bench players had phenomenal games as well. Joe Johnson finished with 13 points, Shelvin Mack added 12 and even Jeff Withey was solid with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

Despite the fact that two substitute starters, Joe Ingles and Boris Diaw, struggled to produce, the Jazz were still able to get enough of an impact from a handful of bench players as well as the other three starters to help propel them to an incredible win despite being drastically shorthanded.

Thus, the fact of the matter is, while Portland failed to have anyone truly step up (particularly in their painfully shallow frontcourt) in the absence of Jusuf Nurkic, the Jazz were able to make up for the absence of their trio of starters due to the fact that a number of players embraced their opportunities and stayed resilient in the face of adversity.

And while that attitude and ability to step up when the situation required was evident last night, the win over Portland certainly wasn’t the only time it’s had to happen this year. The Jazz have been hampered all season long with injuries and it’s truly incredible what they’ve been able to do in spite of it.

Just take a look at the success they’ve had, even with all the injuries, as detailed in the tweets below:

Utah’s next-man up mentality that they’ve perfectly displayed all season long is the reason why they’ve been able to stay afloat in the daunting Western Conference. With the status of those same injured players still up in the air, and their future health in question even for the playoffs, it’s likely a mantra that the Jazz will have to continue to maintain moving forward as well.

While it will certainly be a tough task, if their current 48-30 record is any indication of what they can do in spite of missing key players, then they should very well continue to prove to be an enormous threat.

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The main reason why I picked last night’s game against Portland as the main example here was because it was so interesting to see the Blazers crumble due to the absence of one single player, and a recently added one at that, while the Jazz were able to rise to the occasion despite three of their best players out of action.

Of course the ideal situation would be for the Jazz to no longer have to deal with so many injuries and instead be able to benefit from a full-strength unit come playoff time, but it’s still good to know that there’s enough talent, discipline and grit throughout Utah’s 15-man roster that they can bring it and compete on any given night regardless of who’s on or off the court.

And with so many unknowns facing the team with the postseason looming, that’s an extremely reassuring trait to possess.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com