Utah Jazz
EMPTYING THE NOGGIN – Hawks beat the Jazz at what the Jazz are good at stopping
SUMMARY: The Atlanta Hawks end the Jazz 5 game win streak with a three point barrage
- The Hawks closed the game on a 18 to 6 run to comeback and beat the Jazz. The final stretch for the Jazz they couldn’t get the stops they needed or were they able to swing the momentum of the game
- The Jazz trailed by 1 after 1 and then trailed by 11 at the half but were brilliant in the 3rd quarter and swung the game to a 5 points 91-86 lead heading to the 4th However, the Hawks re-gained control of the game in the 4th quarter and the Jazz fell.
- Donovan Mitchell who was brilliant in the third quarter with 12 points was just 3 for 11 in the 4th quarter without a free throw attempt. Jae Crowder had two great looks in the clutch from three but wasn’t able to make either of them and is now 2 for 13 in the clutch from three. The Jazz came in the 3rd best offense in the clutch but it is largely based on getting to the line and they weren’t able to get those free throw attempts.
- The big story of the night is the Hawks 40 three point attempts. The Jazz are the #1 team in the NBA at denying the three point shot but not against the Hawks. In the first match up the Hawks took 48 three point attempts and tonight they had 40. They got hot and hit 19 of them. Kent Bazemore who had hit on 22% the last 5 games was 4 for 6
- How did the Hawks get the threes. 8 of them were assisted by Trae Young. Young gets into the paint because the Jazz are trailing him off the pick and forcing him off the three point line. The defender is now playing him from the trail position and he is going at Gobert and Rudy is occupied. With Dewayne Dedmon and Alex Len and John Collins the Hawks have bigs that will shoot the three. Dedmon had three of those assists for three and Collins had another.
- Then the Hawks were very willing to pull for three in transition in early offense. Kevin Huerter is a tremendous young player and Kent Bazemore got hot.
- The Hawks beat the Jazz at the things the Jazz are good at. The Jazz are the #1 team in the NBA at not allowing you into transition and the Hawks had a high transition rate and the Jazz are the #1 team at denying the three and the Hawks had 40 attempts.
- The Jazz got in transition offensively and had success.
- Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver who have been vital for the Jazz off the bench combined to go 1 for 10 from three.
- Dropping big teams have been hard for the Jazz to attack and particularly Donovan. The Jazz are much improved this year at that attack.
Utah Jazz
LOCKED ON JAZZ – Why so passive? How Harden blows up the Jazz defense? Donovan Mitchell 2nd year playoffs
The Utah Jazz are getting ready for Game #3 v. the Houston Rockets. David Locke, the radio voice of the Utah Jazz and Jazz NBA Insider takes a look at why the Jazz looked so passive in Game 2 in Houston. Then Locke digs into what makes Harden so unique and why he has blown up the #1 defense in the NBA. Locke also takes a look at what other 2nd year players like Donovan Mitchell have done in their 2nd year playoff season.
The Utah Jazz have been blown out in both of the first two games of their first round series with the Houston Rockets. David Locke, the radio voice of the Utah Jazz and Jazz NBA Insider tries to figure out what has happened and why it has happened. Plus, it is a live show so Locke takes your questions from Facebook live.
Summary: The Jazz start poorly, the Rockets pounced and Harden was amazing it all lead to a Rockets blow out of the Jazz.
- The Jazz opened the night turning the ball over on 4 of their first 8 possessions. The Rockets scored 10 points on those 4 turnovers and that would tell the story of the night. The Jazz trailed 12 to 4 at the first time out.
- Then Harden went nuts. He is incredible. He never misses a read. In Game 1 the Jazz took away the step back and free throws. In the first quarter he had as many step backs and as many free throws as he had all of the first game. I really have no idea how you are supposed to guard him, He was 5 of 11 on step back tonight. He makes those at 40%. You have to take that away but the only way to do that is to play him from behind and force him into a drive.
- He has become the perfect modern player. The league values the three. He can make it at nearly 40%. The league knows you can’t afford to have a 40% three point shooter take 15 to 20 threes a game so you have to play him in this strange manner to force him to drive. Harden would take 20 threes if you let him. No one has ever had his three point shooting step back coupled with his handle and his passing. This just destroys the defense. When you force him to drive he has the floater game and he reads the defense perfectly.
- The Jazz defense failed in transition tonight. According to cleaningtheglass the Rockets averaged 1.7 pts per transition and only .94 in the half court. The .94 is a little above average but the Rockets are usually much better than that in the halfcourt. They are the #2 halfcourt team in the NBA. So the Jazz halfcourt defense was actually ok tonight.
- The Jazz offense is where things should be most concerning. The Jazz were not able to score with regularity against the Rockets in the playoffs last year, they weren’t able to score against them in the regular season and they haven’t been able to score against them tonight.
- The Rockets offense averages about 116 pts per 100 possessions. Even if the Jazz have a great defensive night hey will be around 108 but the Jazz offense v. the Rockets all season has been below 1 point per possessions. Until that is fixed it is hard see a scenario where the Jazz defense can hold the Rockets offense down far enough to win a game.
- The talk around the Rockets is that they are a better team than a year ago. A year ago they won 65 games and were a Chris Paul hamstring or a glutton of missed 3s away from winning the title.
- The Jazz average .74 pts in the half court
- Rubio and Crowder are a combined 2 of 14 on open threes.
- The Jazz came into the night 22 of 100 on above the break three point shots v. the Rockets this year. It continued again tonight as the Jazz shot 6 of 27 on above the break 3 and some of those were late.
- The Jazz have lost the first two games by 52 points. The Rockets look to be capable of winning the title
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