Utah Jazz can’t stop hot shooting Pelicans, fall to 16-22

Coming off an exciting win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Utah Jazz began 2018 with a tough home loss to Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Without Rudy Gobert in the lineup, matching up against the New Orleans Pelicans is not favorable for the Utah Jazz. That problem was in full display Wednesday night as Utah was torched by the incredible duo of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, who combined for 48 points and 26 rebounds.

On top of that, the Pelicans were just on fire from the three-point line all night. As a team, they shot 14-of-30 from distance. Clearly, it was a tough night for the Jazz defensively, who fell 108-98.

Quin Snyder threw multiple different defenders at Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, but they just could not match up successfully. Jonas Jerebko started at power forward tonight, while Thabo Sefolosha was a DNP-CD.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 24 points. The rookie didn’t shoot the ball well, but did a good job of drawing contact in the paint and getting to the foul line. He made nine of ten foul shots. The last time he faced the Pelicans, he scored a career high 41 points, leading the Jazz to victory. Unfortunately, such a performance wasn’t in the cards tonight.

Joe Johnson had arguably his best game of the season for the Jazz tonight. He scored 20 points off the bench, and it looks like he is getting some rhythm back after missing a big chunk of time with a wrist injury. Iso Joe played 29 minutes off the bench in the loss.

Next: Is Donovan Mitchell worthy of an All-Star selection?

The season series between the Jazz and Pelicans is now tied 1-1. This will be important to track, as both these teams look like they will be battling for playoff position in the brutal Western Conference.

The Jazz are now 16-22 on the season, and begin a four-game road trip on Friday against the Denver Nuggets. The difficult December schedule may be over, but the Jazz still have a lot of work to do.