3 studs and 1 dud from Utah Jazz win over Pistons

Utah Jazz stud: Rudy Gobert

We’ve said it before, and we’ll probably say it again. This Utah Jazz team will go as far as Rudy Gobert will take them. Last night, he took them to the promised land.

Gobert finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks, shooting 8/11 from the field and the same from the free throw line. This Pistons squad was particularly ill equipped to handle one of the best big men in the NBA.

Isaiah Stewart has some promise, but at 6’8, he proved too short to hang with Gobert in the absence of any speed advantage. He was visibly frustrated, committing 4 fouls in the 25 minutes of action he saw. His backup, Kelly Olynyk, didn’t fare much better.

Olynyk is a solid veteran, but he doesn’t nearly have the muscle mass to contain Gobert on the interior. Last night, that showed. He also committed 4 fouls, in just 19 minutes.

Most of those collective fouls were committed on Gobert. They were committed out of desperation. He was getting whatever he wanted on the interior. Gobert’s gravity out of pick-and-roll sets is an underrated component of this historically efficient Utah Jazz attack. Fans may associate the team with three-point shooting (and with good reason) but Gobert’s ability to finish inside opens up the floor for the whole team.

Otherwise, his 14 boards and 4 blocks were reflective of the defensive dominance that we expect from him. Simply put, Gobert put the Utah Jazz on his back last night. He’ll have less offensive responsibility when Mitchell returns, but he’ll always put forth his case as the most important player on this Jazz squad.

Last night, that case was irrefutable.