The Utah Jazz would prefer to have Donovan Mitchell for 82 games a season. In last night’s 110-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, they proved that they’re capable of winning without him.
Admittedly, the Spurs were without their best player in Dejounte Murray. He’s comfortably on pace to win this season’s Most Improved Player award. These Spurs go as far as he goes. Nonetheless, with each team’s offensive engine in for repairs, the Jazz deserve credit for prevailing.
This Utah Jazz offense suffered in Mitchell’s absence. Possessions found themselves running late into the clock with increased frequency. Without the threat of Spida’s relentless drives to the basket, the Jazz leaned more heavily into extra passing. The team’s 9/31 (29.0%) accuracy from downtown reflected the lack of explosion in their attack.
They still had enough to get the victory. Here are 3 studs and 1 dud from this contest.
Utah Jazz stud: Rudy Gobert
Rudy Gobert, as is often the case, got the stud designation in this contest by just being himself. He finished with 16 points on 5/7 shooting from the field, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks.
In many ways, Spurs center Jakob Poeltl bears much resemblance to the Stifle Tower. He’s a long, athletically limited center who leans on defense and screen-setting to make positive contributions. He’s a good NBA player, but he’s no Rudy Gobert. He finished this game with 10 points on 5/11 shooting from the field, along with 13 rebounds and 5 assists.
It would be hard to look at the center matchup in this contest and say the Jazz won the game due to it. However, Gobert managed to hold Poeltl to an inefficient night from the field while also locking down the interior against the Spurs in general. That’s the type of winning contribution the Utah Jazz expect from Rudy Gobert.
He was a stud in last night’s contest.