EMPTYING THE NOGGIN

Summary:  Jazz play as well as they can in blow out win over Indiana 104-84

• The Jazz fell behind 8-2 to start the game and then closed the first quarter on a 30 to 12 run and never looked back.  This game was not close. The Jazz dominated it all night.  Indiana threatened briefly in the third quarter, but the Jazz quelled it and went up by double digits and blew it open again to start the 4^th.

• Indiana is good. With Victor Oladipo they are 31-16, they had won 9 of 10 at home and 5 of 7 overall.  The Jazz crushed them.

• This was a great night for the Jazz both offensively and defensively.

• The Pacers didn’t hit a three until mid way thru the 3^rd quarter and were 3 for 23 on the night. The Pacers lived in the mid range most of the night as Gobert and Favors took away the basket and they launched mid range shot after mid range shot.   Pacers hit a bunch of mid range shots and are the 3^rd best mid range shooting team in the NBA, but even that is only 43% so you can’t survive on the mid range.

• The Jazz lineup of Rubio, Mitchell, Ingles, Crowder and Gobert was plus 9 in the first quarter and blew the game open.

• Rudy Gobert is dominating games. His defensive presence eliminate so many things teams want to do that it blows up their entire rhythm and sequencing of their offense.   Offensively, Rudy is having a mammoth impact on games.  For the third time in 4 games he had a 20 point scoring night to go with at least 10 rebounds.

• The Jazz defense since Jan 19^th is nearly 10 points better than league average. In that same time Houston offense is 8 above average.  We should be thinking of the Jazz defense lead by Rudy as the same as the Rockets offense lead by James Harden.

• Harden has Chris Paul and Rudy has Derrick Favors who was great tonight. The defense and rim protection by Derrick Favors was as good as Rudy tonight.  The Pacers never got a rhythm in those minutes.   This is important because if they get rolling then it could carry over.

• Donovan Mitchell was great in the first quarter making a bunch of big plays. Then he made a collection of super passes for three pointers.  He threw a bullet to Jae Crowder for three, then on a fast break hit Rubio for three.   Late in the third the Pacers were making a run and Donovan Mitchell knocked down a three on a great pass from Crowder and put the game back to 12 points ending the Pacers run.

• Donovan Mitchell was great defensively tonight. The work he put on Oladipo was terrific.  When he forced him to the side Oladipo never got back.   Mitchell did an amazing job on battling on the pick and roll.  This might have been his best defensive game of the year.

• Ricky Rubio has 19 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists to go with 3 steals. His first quarter was great and set the tone and the passion he plays with is contagious.

• The Joe Ingles Rudy Gobert pick and roll was the primary set from the Jazz tonight. Joe Ingles and Gobert have improved considerably over the course of the last two nights working together.  This has not been a great combo throughout the year, but over the last two nights they really connected.  Joe Ingles had a double double with 11 points and 10 assists .

• Royce O’Neale made a few plays tonight on the defensive end where he rotated correctly or switched or dropped into passing lanes that are the plays that make coaches love you as a player.

• The Jazz were collectively terrific tonight. They dominated the game on both ends of the floor.

• 9 straight road wins equals the Jazz team of 1998 and has only been surpassed once before in franchise history. Great things are going on.