Utah Jazz: LeBron James sounds off, and other takeaways from Wednesday’s loss
By Caleb Manser
We’ve already covered how the Utah Jazz were beaten offensively and defensively, but to make matters worse they got in foul trouble.
Joe Ingles got called for a charging foul late in the first quarter, then in the second quarter Rudy Gobert also got whistled for an offensive foul. He’s lucky it wasn’t a flagrant one foul for being in the shooter’s landing space.
Ingles picked up another charge, and then Gobert got whistled for a shooting foul on Kyle Kuzma’s dunk attempt, to which Quin Snyder challenged the foul. The Jazz lost the challenge, and throughout the second and third quarter the Jazz could not catch a break with fouls.
There was a particular play where LeBron James pump faked Dante Exum, and got him in the air. James hesitated until Exum’s momentum was downward, then drew the contact and the whistle.
Utah committed 24 fouls in the game compared to only 17 for Los Angeles, and the Lakers got 25 free throw attempts compared to the Jazz’s 19. The Jazz had fouled five times and entered into the bonus at the 2:57 mark in the first quarter. In the second quarter they reached the bonus at just the 8:08 mark, and ended the quarter committing 10 fouls.
Having key players pick up three fouls before halftime is never a smart way to enter the second half. When some players get into foul trouble, they become more timid on defense and the momentum of the game usually swings to the opponent.
In the Jazz’s case, they only have two rim protectors in Gobert and Davis, and both of them had three fouls before the half. Jeff Green, one of the few Jazz bodies big enough to bang with the Lakers’ frontcourt, had four fouls in just 23 minutes. Ed Davis picked up four fouls in just 13 minutes of play.
I watched the whole game and all the replays, and I think the refs did a fair job on those fouls against the Jazz. Utah has to find a way to not foul if they want to be one of the top defenses in the league again, especially not getting sucked into those cheap fouls like the one Exum got called for on LeBron.