Utah Jazz: Four things that must change to even series with Houston
Cut down the turnovers!!!
It might seem overly dramatic to include three exclamation points in the heading, but that’s just representative of how frustrating all the turnovers have been. In the first three games against Houston, the Jazz have logged 18, 17, and 16 turnovers, respectively. Hey, I guess you could say at least they’re trending downwards, right? But still, those figures are far too high if the Jazz hope to be successful and they need to cut down on their giveaways significantly.
Make no mistake about it, Houston is a solid defensive team, thus they’ve been able to frustrate the Jazz into many of these miscues. However, Houston forced opponents into just 14.6 turnovers per game during the regular season, while the Jazz averaged just 14.7. The fact that they’ve been well over that mark in each contest is a clear reason for concern.
And what’s worse is that it’s not like Houston deserves all the credit for these turnovers. Many of them are just silly mistakes by the Jazz. Bad passes, poor communication, mishandling catches, dribbling off the leg – all of these are far-too-common occurrences that have significantly hindered Utah’s shot at success.
It’s gotten so bad that the Jazz are averaging the second most turnovers per game of any of the 16 playoff teams (second only to the already eliminated Miami Heat), and the most of any of the teams in the Conference Semifinals. That’s far from a recipe from success.
It’s even more alarming when considering that so far in postseason play, the Rockets are averaging just 9.3 turnovers per game. In other words, not only are the Jazz shooting themselves in the foot with all their giveaways, but the Rockets are excelling in that area on their end, causing further damage to the Jazz.
Utah will need to take much better care of the ball if they are to prevent Houston from earning yet another easy win.
Next: Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell takes responsibility after Game 3 loss
We always knew that defeating the top-seeded Houston Rockets was going to be an uphill battle. The Game 2 win certainly provided Utah Jazz fans with hope, but it was quickly crushed in the Game 3 loss. With that being the case, Game 4 may very well determine whether the Jazz can still make this a series or if the Rockets are on their way to a gentleman’s sweep.
Regardless of the outcome, this season has still been an overwhelming success for the Jazz. However, it’s also much too early to wave the white flag as there are a couple significant reasons for optimism in this series. First of all, though the Jazz were blown out in Game 1, they were able to make adjustments and earn a huge Game 2 victory. Who’s to say they won’t do the same in Game 4?
Not only that, but if you recall last season’s first-round series against the LA Clippers, the Jazz went down 2-1 after dropping Game 3 at home, but still ultimately went on to win the series. And they did so by winning three games on the road compared to just one at home! It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that road games equate to losses, but the Jazz have proven that wrong several times.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. More than anything, the Jazz need to focus on the four items that I’ve brought up so that they can earn a critical Game 4 victory. If they do so, the series will be knotted at two games apiece and will set up a fantastic finish to the best-of-seven bout.