The Utah Jazz are looking for revenge against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday after suffering a disappointing loss to them the game prior.
The Utah Jazz fell in disappointing fashion on Monday night, losing to the New Orleans Pelicans on their home floor despite the turmoil-riddled Pelicans playing their best (though admittedly disengaged) player Anthony Davis for just 22 minutes. Despite holding a double-figure lead for most of the game, including much of the fourth quarter, the Jazz just couldn’t get the job done.
Perhaps most frustrating was how complacent Utah was throughout the contest, but particularly in the final period when they let a 14-point lead slip through their fingers. Even after letting the Pelicans storm back to take a six-point lead in the waning minutes, the Jazz recaptured the lead and looked as if they’d still eke out a victory. But poor decisions in their final possessions turned out to be more than they could overcome.
The Jazz were absolutely slaughtered by Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle, who finished with 30 points apiece. The Pelicans were allowed to shot 45 percent from the perimeter, led by Holiday’s 4-of-7 barrage.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Jazz had a nice performance from Kyle Korver and Jae Crowder off the bench as they chipped in 20 points apiece, including nine made threes between the pair. However, Utah’s starters were mostly atrocious. Ricky Rubio shot just 1-of-8 from the field for a measly three points and was on the floor during New Orleans’ big fourth-quarter run. Donovan Mitchell shot an awful 8-of-24 and Joe Ingles went just 2-of-7.
Meanwhile, even Rudy Gobert wasn’t at his best as he finished the contest a minus-eight, the worst mark of the starters. A few defensive miscues on his end specifically enabled Randle and the Pelicans to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat.
📓| "We played well enough offensively to win, but we weren't able to get stops and we let them back in the game." —Quin Snyder
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 5, 2019
» https://t.co/IIgUjIzGi2
But the Jazz will have little time to lick their wounds and feel bad for themselves as they’ll be thrust instantly into a round two with the Pelicans on Wednesday night, this time within the hostile confines of the Smoothie King Center located in The Big Easy itself. Despite Davis’ lack of commitment to the Pels, the team has played with a chip on its shoulder and, as they showed on Monday, have actually been playing better without him.
In fact, in some ways they’re showing that the narrative that Davis has no help in New Orleans has been quite overblown. Perhaps, as has proven to be the case with other stars such as Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, Davis just isn’t the leader his team needed him to be. If Davis were as superb as he’s credited to be, maybe his Pelicans wouldn’t have sunk to the depths of the Western Conference Standings.
That argument aside, this New Orleans squad proved just how dangerous they can be. And as my J-Notes partner in crime Ryan Aston recently pointed out, Utah simply can’t afford to get complacent as they did on Monday. Sure, the final stretch of the season is much easier than what they’ve faced the rest of the year. But that doesn’t mean any wins are guaranteed. The Jazz still have to be ready to face stiff NBA talent night in and night out.
In order to topple the Pelicans this time around, the Jazz have to find an answer for Randle and Holiday, who had their way against Gobert and Rubio, respectively. Quin Snyder may need to adjust some defensive assignments whereas Utah needs to bring more intensity and focus on defense so as to not give up so many easy looks.
Last of all, Utah’s starters simply have to play better. They looked disengaged and uninterested for much of the night until they had allowed the Pelicans back in the game and it was far too late to recover. Their poor numbers are clear evidence of that shortcoming. Ideally, they’ll have that energy back and be ready to go on Wednesday to earn a critical bounce-back victory.
https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/1102795868707577856
Honestly, the previous win over the Milwaukee Bucks may have very well taken a heavy emotional toll on the Jazz. And while that’s still no excuse, it certainly provides some explanation for why they faltered on Monday.
To keep the loss in perspective, though, on Tuesday the Golden State Warriors lost to the struggling Boston Celtics, the Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Portland Trail Blazers fell to the Memphis Grizzlies. My point? None of those teams is worse than the opponent that defeated them, they simply had a poor showing, which is going to happen in a lengthy 82-game season.
The same can be said and most certainly happened for the Jazz on Monday. They blew what should have been a victory and instead lost to an inferior team. Such is life in the NBA and it’s no reason for outright panic (which is all too common among the Utah faithful). Fortunately, I don’t see that repeating itself again on Wednesday, as I expect this Jazz team will be refocused and out with a vengeance to get back to their winning ways against a lackluster Pelicans team.
My Prediction: Jazz 109, Pelicans 97
As you’re tuning into the game, be sure to join our live comment stream which will be available in the comment section below this article. Several Jazz fans will be chiming in to give their take on the contest as well! Tip-off for the bout is at 6:00 PM MT.