Utah Jazz: LeBron James sounds off, and other takeaways from Wednesday’s loss
By Caleb Manser
There was a possession in the first quarter where the Jazz allowed the Lakers to grab four offensive rebounds. That is just unacceptable.
Utah played solid defense to force an Anthony Davis miss, but were out of arm’s reach to grab the rebound and wrap up what would’ve been a successful defensive possession. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope caught ahold of the ball, which led to some good ball movement. The ball found Danny Green open in the right corner, who is a deadly three point shooter, but Donovan Mitchell was quick on the closeout and contested the shot.
Mitchell started to run toward the other end of the court for offense, but backtracked to get the long rebound that was coming his way. That 50-50 ball was won by Danny Green, which led to a couple of high percentage looks from JaVale McGee. He missed a layup, but got a dunk after.
The basket was overturned later because of a shot clock violation, but the Jazz were spent after that possession struggling to defend on and off the ball. After that point the Lakers went on an 11 to 5 run, and never relinquished control of the game up from that point on.
Utah also struggled against the size of the Lakers last time these two teams met, one reason they should hope to avoid the Lakers for as long as possible in the NBA playoffs.
Another defensive flaw I noticed was off-ball defense. Midway through the third quarter, there were back-to-back plays where LeBron James bulleted a pass from the way behind the three point arc to a cutting Caldwell-Pope. KCP saw the opening, and made the layup both times because the Jazz were caught sleeping.
Both rebounding and off-ball defense take hustle and energy, something the Jazz have been lacking collectively. Maybe the longest road trip of the season sapped that energy, but the Jazz better find a way to play tougher and with more heart. Their upcoming opponents may not be the most glamorous teams in the standings, but I find that those teams are the ones that play with more energy because they have no other way to beat you.