Utah Jazz: 2 studs and 1 dud from demolition of Philadelphia 76ers

The Utah Jazz were supposed to beat the injury-riddled Philadelphia 76ers last night. Mission accomplished. Frankly, they could have beat them by less than 35 points and still walked away feeling satisfied. There are several explanations for how this absolute drubbing occurred. Perhaps most notably, the 76ers were without their most important player in Joel Embiid (not to mention Ben Simmons, who is a Sixer in theory only). Still, there are reasons for this outcome that exist in the vacuum that was last night’s contest as well.

The Utah Jazz dominated the glass, out-rebounding the 76ers 56 to 42. In Embiid’s absence, the Jazz’s dominance on the glass made Doc Rivers’ decision to play Andre Drummond for a mere 12 minutes slightly confusing.

Perhaps more significantly, the Jazz handily won the three-point battle. It’s worth noting that the team only shot 38 threes, a slight decrease from their season average of 41.9. We’re not saying Quin Snyder reads the J-Notes, but we can’t rule the possibility out either.

The results spoke for themselves, with the Jazz downing 16 of those attempts for a conversion rate of 42.1%. By contrast, the Sixers went 6/29 from beyond the arc, a putrid 20.7%. The Jazz continued their trend of elite three-point defense, as the 31.7% accuracy they’ve held opponents to ranks 5th in the NBA.

A victory over a club without its best player(s) may be expected, but a final score of 120-85 is worthy of praise against any professional basketball team. Here are 2 studs and 1 dud from this dominant Utah Jazz performance.