Utah Jazz: Five adjustments for Games 3 and 4
Limit Turnovers
The Jazz did a much better job of limiting turnovers in Game 2 as they actually logged less than Golden State did – 15 as compared to 17. However, those 15 giveaways were still too much and the Warriors were able to capitalize in a big way off of them as they put in 24 points off of Utah’s turnovers.
That amounted to four more points than they got off of turnovers in Game 1 in which the Jazz had 14 giveaways. The Warriors are absolutely notorious for thriving in the open court, and providing them with extra opportunities to get out and run and convert on easy baskets by turning the ball over is essentially a death sentence.
So much so, that any time the Jazz were able to, they would opt to foul in transition rather than allow the Warriors to break free for a momentum-elevating dunk or wide open three-pointer.
These "euro-fouls" are gonna stop one or two transition opportunities tonight at the expense of putting the Warriors in the penalty earlier.
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) May 5, 2017
And the fact that Golden State had more turnovers than Utah in Game 2 is absolutely irrelevant. Sure, it would be nice for the Jazz to force as many of them as possible, but what’s more important is for Utah’s offense to be flowing to the point where turnovers are rare and Golden State is unable to get a spark by taking advantage of them.
The other thing that Utah has to avoid is missed shots at the rim. Not only will these kill the offense, but whenever the Warriors are able to collect these misses, they essentially have the same effect as a turnover as they nearly always lead to an easy Golden State basket on the other end.
The Jazz were able to shave Golden State’s fast break points from 29 in Game 1 to 19 in Game 2, but if they hope to survive and get on the board in Game 3, then Utah will need to continue to chip away at that number by limiting turnovers and executing well on offense.