Last night, the Utah Jazz lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s hard to know where to even begin. The team struggled offensively throughout the night, and defensively down the stretch. We’ll start with the problem that plagued them throughout the contest.
Utah Jazz offense collapses vs Lakers
A usually explosive Utah Jazz offense was absolutely anemic against the Lakers last night. As a whole, the team shot 36.9% from the field, and 26.1% from downtown on 46 attempts.
It was ugly. Before we prescribe any drastic changes to Utah’s attack, it’s worth noting that this team still boasts the best Offensive Rating in the NBA at 117.53. It just doesn’t feel sustainable.
The adage that teams live by the three and die by the three is probably as old as the three-point era itself. It was probably applied to teams in the early 80s who had the audacity to shoot 10 threes in a single game.
It probably applies to this Utah Jazz offense as well. When this team isn’t connecting from beyond the arc, it doesn’t appear to have an adjustment in its back pocket. It’s reminiscent of several Mike D’Antoni led attacks: potent when it’s operating at max capacity, but capable of combustion.
In the playoffs, against sharper defenses, the latter outcome can be more readily expected. However, that’s not the only problem with the Jazz’s attack.
Utah Jazz ball-handlers on different pages
Last night the Jazz didn’t see an ounce of symmetry between Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson. Both players suffered as a result. Mitchell finished with 13 points on 6/19 shooting from the field (including an 0/8 mark from deep). He had 7 assists to go with 4 turnovers. Meanwhile, Clarkson had 6 points on 2/13 shooting from the field and 0/6 shooting from downtown.
Their collectively poor performance pointed to a larger issue. Both men are dynamic on-ball players, but neither is a reliable floor spacer. It makes it difficult, at times, for them to share the floor. When two of your best offensive players have difficulty sharing the floor, you may have a roster construction issue.
That’s not the only potential roster issue for these Utah Jazz though.
Utah Jazz need to address defensive limitations
It’s time that we officially eat crow. The Jazz could probably use another defensive wing.
Last night, this Jazz team got carved up by Stanley Johnson down the stretch. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel has been using the recent 10-day acquisition as a small-ball 5. It paid dividends against an ill-equipped Utah Jazz club.
Quin Snyder opted against removing Rudy Gobert from the game in response. We don’t disagree with that decision. We’ve recently seen exactly how important Rudy Gobert is to this Jazz club. An extra defensively oriented wing could have switched onto Johnson while he was making his way to the paint, allowing Gobert to stay camped out there.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Johnson made use of his relatively quick feet at the 5 spot, and got whatever he wanted. Most significantly, a 101-95 Lakers victory.
The Utah Jazz should flip Jordan Clarkson for a plus defensive wing. There’s no ambiguous way to say it. While they’ll miss Clarkson’s shot creation, leaning more heavily into Mitchell, Conley and Bogdanovic while diversifying their defense could solve the problems that led to this embarrassing defeat.