After the game, Jazz center Rudy Gobert criticized his teammate’s lack of early competitiveness. The Knicks are one of the worst defensive teams in the National Basketball Association, allowing 108.6 points per game, ranking them 25.
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However, if we assume (which, admittedly, is never a smart move with these Clippers), that Los Angeles can keep the Thunder at bay and land a first round matchup with Utah as either the four or five seed, there are a couple takeaways from the four games these two teams have played together that might shed some light on what a playoff series might entail.
The pointed remarks may have momentarily ruffled some feathers before the Jazz held a team meeting to clear the air.
Snyder’s ears perked up, however, when Paul said Gobert “can play, but he just talks a lot”. “They were tough shots that we were challenged that they made”.
Pelicans’ coach Alvin Gentry shrugged off the seemingly unfair circumstance of playing a second back-to-back against the Jazz in three weeks, saying “For some reason, they want us to be back-to-back when we play each other”.
What we do know is that Gobert will practice what he preaches and will be the first one to lead by example when the Jazz face the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night. They get regular contributions from George Hill, Joe Ingles, Joe Johnson, Rodney Hood and others, and it was that crew who got it done tonight, especially from behind the 3-point line.
Damian Lillard contributed 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter for the Trail Blazers, who won for the 10th time in their last 13 outings. Snyder said he had an X-ray afterward. The team got great news when x-rays came back negative for anything serious.
In the locker room, Gobert told Tim MacMahon of ESPN, “We’ve got guys that compete, but some of us don’t compete, some of us just think about scoring”.
Offensive breakdown: The Pelicans should have looked to score more in transition after outscoring the Jazz 10-0 on fastbreak points in the first half.
The Pelicans are 6-3 in their last 9 but surely out of the playoff race with Denver and Portland now tied for the 8th spot in the west and sitting 4.5 games ahead of New Orleans. Utah C Rudy Gobert earned his 52nd double-double of the season. Utah used a 20-4 surge to tie the score at 70 after a bucket by Johnson with 35 seconds left in the quarter. We’ve got to let things go.
Davis took over after that. His final basket in the quarter sliced Utah’s lead to 54-51 with 1:17 remaining before halftime.
Hill gave the Jazz the lead again on a 3-pointer and it marked just the beginning of a barrage from the perimeter.
With DeMarcus Cousins missing his second consecutive game with a sprained right ankle, New Orleans (31-43) couldn’t perform like they did on Sunday night when they beat the Denver Nuggets 115-90. Davis had another monster game, finishing with 36 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and three steals.
Gobert also stretched his streak of games with at least one blocked shot to 41.
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Alexis Ajinica only played eight minutes and shot 2-3 from the field for four points.
