Utah Jazz stud: Rudy Gobert
We’re not going to address the fact that Gobert was probably the primary culprit in last night’s brawl here. That’s only because we’re going to address it in detail elsewhere.
In terms of basketball, Gobert did everything he could to salvage this game for the Utah Jazz. He finished with 19 points on 7/10 shooting from the field, 11 rebounds and a block.
Gobert took a particularly strong stand in the third quarter, scoring 11 of his 19 points in that frame. He was particularly aggressive, calling for the ball with inside position more frequently than he generally does.
Even before the two turned an NBA game into a WWE-esque spectacle, it felt as if Gobert might be taking his matchup with Myles Turner a little personally. Turner’s 3.2 blocks per game pace the NBA by a wide margin, and he may be the biggest threat to Gobert’s Defensive Player of the Year candidacy of any center in the league.
None of which excuses the events that unfolded, but it may explain why Gobert was diving to the rim out of pick-and-roll sets with a little extra gumption through the third quarter. Utah Jazz fans will take a motivated Stifle Tower however they get him.
He was more aggressive on offense on (yet another) night where the three-ball refused to fall for the Utah Jazz. They shot just 9/32 from three-point range in this contest. If Rudy Gobert hadn’t provided the squad with a little bit of extra inside scoring, this one could have gotten uglier.
In terms of the score, that is.