In Game 1 of what is set to be a nail-biting series against the LA Clippers, the Utah Jazz may have finally found a rotation that can be consistently effective.
Put simply, the Utah Jazz have been destroyed all year long by injuries. There really isn’t any other way to put it. 23 different starting lineups were used during the regular season, but things were looking up from that perspective heading into the playoffs.
However, Utah’s hopes of being injury-free during their playoff run were dashed in the first 10 seconds of their series opener versus Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers. On the first possession, Rudy Gobert went to set a curl screen for a cutting Gordon Hayward and clashed knees with Luc Mbah a Moute.
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After failing to get up, he came out of the ball game never to return. Jazz fans’ hearts sunk and their jaws hit the floor. Not only did this force Coach Quin Snyder to reshuffle his deck early, it changed Utah’s gameplan dramatically.
Alas, the Jazz were able to somehow pull through and defeat the Clippers on the road in Game 1 thanks to a buzzer-beater from Joe Johnson.
Is that the best 10 million dollars we’ve ever spent or what?
As the saying goes, ‘adversity breeds opportunity,’ and that couldn’t be more true in this case. Derrick Favors came off the bench and was a huge thorn in the Clippers’ side all night long. That adversity also gave Snyder the opportunity to get some new lineups on the floor, and you can’t argue with the results.
10 players hit the hardwood for the Jazz on Saturday night, including the Stifle Tower, who played a measly 17 seconds. Jeff Withey got an opportunity soon after with Favors getting in early foul trouble and took full advantage.
At this stage, Gobert remains doubtful and is unlikely to return before Game 3 in Salt Lake City, so Withey will likely get some short stints in the second game as well.
Meanwhile, playing just one backup point guard has been a rarity for the Jazz in recent weeks but Shelvin Mack was the only one to get the nod from Snyder on Saturday, with Dante Exum yet to experience his first playoff game. Unlike most Jazz fans, I probably wouldn’t play Dante at this stage of the playoffs either if I were in Snyder’s position. Although he shows flashes of greatness and has the length to shut down LA’s deadly guards, experience and composure are critical to postseason success and he doesn’t have either at this point in time.
With Rodney Hood’s suspect knee soreness, he came off the bench for Joe Ingles and played just 19 minutes. It would be very surprising to me if Hood was to start a game in the postseason unless Ingles went down with an injury. Joe played on fellow sharp-shooter J.J. Redick for most of the night and completely nullified him in all facets of the game. Redick failed to have an impact on either end of the floor, and Ingles was praised by a grumpy Doc Rivers post-game for his efforts —
"“I thought Joe Ingles had a great defensive game tonight. [If] you look at his numbers offensively, they don’t look that great. But I thought he was a difference-maker.” – Doc Rivers."
If Gobert is unable to play Tuesday night in Game 2, Favors will likely start in his place and play a lot of minutes. Derrick looked a little tender towards the end of the game and he wasn’t running or moving with the same motion as the first half. He still managed to be effective finishing most of his looks around the basket.
The starting lineup for Tuesday’s battle will likely be George Hill, Joe Ingles, Gordon Hayward, Boris Diaw and Derrick Favors with Shelvin Mack, Rodney Hood, Joe Johnson and Jeff Withey being the only players to get minutes off the bench.
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After winning the first game, the Jazz’s main focus will be to have Gobert ready to roll by Game 3. Going with the worst-case scenario here; if the Jazz are tied 1-1 after two games, it then becomes a best-of-five game series with Utah having the coveted home-court advantage. If Gobert can make it back in time for Game 3, the Jazz have a great chance to win this series.