Rudy Gobert proves his worth even without a ton of points, while his team celebrates past the arc.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert (27) defends New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes (10) as the Utah Jazz hosts New Orleans Pelicans, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
While the Utah Jazz entered Tuesday night’s matchup at Vivint Arena on a five-game winning streak, some thought an inconsistent but long New Orleans team and athleticism could give them enough defensive trouble to make things interesting.
And things were interesting … for about a quarter and a half.
Soon enough, the Jazz took advantage of the Pelicans’ acumen on that side of the ball, and moved to a 118-102 victory.
Here are some early comments from the game:
Rudy Gobert is still a force at the edge
For all those arguments about the worth of a man who specifically makes his bones on the $ 205 million defense head, Rudy Gobert showed twice in the last minute of the second quarter why he is a such a special player.
At first, after Zion Williamson blew through Bojan Bogdanovic’s defense, he went to the edge and tried a lefty layy jackknife past Gobert, just to meet the latter directly, face to face, extension his right arm, and stop him at the edge.
On the second, with the Pelicans coming in from the sideline with 11.9 seconds to play, Eric Bledsoe got a good screen from Jaxson Hayes and blew past Mike Conley, accelerating into the paint for the which was like a definite situation. Except that Gobert got ground from behind and, when Miye Oni and Bogdanovic slipped just enough to break Bledsoe, the Frenchman came over the top and put the effort away from the backboard. .
Jazz was abusing the defense of the Pelicans
New Orleans coach pregame Stan Stan Gundy was asked if Utah’s 3-point ability away from his favorite inside defensive style was needed. He said no, his main concern was still preventing Gobert from getting closures and Donovan Mitchell from getting layups.
It makes sense, except that his body seemed to be completely inverted with seemingly simple rotations, allowing the Jazz to get one 3-point open view after another.
While the Jazz opened the third quarter with Gobert going down the series without controversy for a dunk, it was Bogdanovic 3, Royce O’Neale 3, Conley 3 (plus free throws), Mitchell 3, and another the next six baskets. Bogdanovic 3.
The 18-6 run made it 73-55.
Williamson, for his incredible athleticism and finishing ability at the edge, often suffered defensively, his lack of knowledge of team rotation was always misused.
Donovan Mitchell has a job to do as a PG of the future
Prior to the start of this season, a large group of Jazz fans opposed the idea that Mike Conley would be in uniform past this season. Maybe they’re rethinking that now.
First, because Conley has kicked back from last season ‘s struggle and has been legitimately good this year. But also because Mitchell still looks like he needs a lot of work as a point guard of the future.
On the one hand, it is capable of true clarity – as on that play late in the second season when it drove to the edge, courting the defense, looking for the whole world as if it were he goes to one-handed pass into the left-hand corner, just to direct it to the top of the arc, where a waiting Bogey was draining the open-air view.
On the other hand, there was a stretch long before that in the second when Mitchell was repaired by Jordan Clarkson and the offense stopped. Mitchell was either too late in getting to the right play to do it, or he put it on and made a bad one. Either way, the result was generally a late-in-the-clock lie or turn.
In the fourth quarter, with Conley on the bench again, the Jazz went through a stretch that turned Clarkson, a Mitchell turn, a Clarkson bullet blocked, a Mitchell turn – resulting in New Orleans running 11-0 to cut a 25-point. deficit to 14 with more than 7 minutes to go.
As for Conley, even without his good shooting prospect on Tuesday, he still had a powerful night with 10 fans – his second night so in a 10 – day race.
Joe Ingles was back, and in a big way
After losing the last three games, and four of the last five, with a right Achilles pain, Joe Ingles returned to action Tuesday, making a big impact.
While Joe Ingles did his traditional thing by going up an open point-3 in the second quarter, he looked very confident and aggressive out there overall. Although he may not have handled the ball as usual, he proved an effective spot sniper – 15 points in total (at 5 of 6 from depth) in just 18 minutes.