Jazz Need Sharper Mindset To Beat Houston In The Playoffs

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz don’t have the perimeter speed to stay with the best offensive players in the NBA. It’s been a problem for a few months now for the Jazz, and Houston Rockets guards Russell Westbrook and James Harden are the latest examples of players who are happy to exploit it, especially when Rudy Gobert is off the floor. 

To be fair to the Jazz, Harden might be the best offensive guard in NBA history and as a result, has led the league in scoring each of the last three seasons. Westbrook plays as hard as anyone to ever wear an NBA uniform, so most teams struggle with the duo. 

However, it hasn’t just been those two. The Jazz have now given up memorable performances to the Rockets Eric Gordon, the Portland Trailblazers Damian Lillard, the New Orleans Pelicans Brandon Ingram, and the San Antonio Spurs DeMar DeRozan in recent weeks. 

.@JHarden13 is hoopin hoopin. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TkNFv36kTF

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) February 23, 2020

Harden and Westbrook cooked the Jazz for 72 combined points on 27-49 shooting, but more than scoring, the duo just looked in control of the game for most of the night. The Jazz inability to have long stretches where they dictated the play on the floor for the second straight night coming out of the All-Star break is tough to reconcile, especially considering it’s the same team that entered the All-Star break with four straight wins over playoff-caliber teams. 

The Jazz were creative in how they tried to mask their speed deficiency, double-teaming Harden when he crossed halfcourt, then running a rarely seen zone defense for long stretches to neutralize the Rockets attack. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough. 

The Rockets attack isn’t just based on getting downhill and attack the rim, but kicking the ball out to the three-point line and swinging passes around the perimeter to find open shooters. The Jazz weren’t able to match up with the Rockets shooters, who finished 20-48 from deep for 42 percent. The Rockets made eight of their first nine three-point attempts of the game. 

.@Holla_At_Rob33 trey to start this game. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/NRJtARGMbe

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) February 23, 2020

On the opposite side of the floor, the Jazz couldn’t find the bottom of the net from the three-point line, finishing just 7-31 from downtown for 22.6 percent shooting, their worst shooting night from that distance this season. 

In total, the Jazz were outscored by 39 points from beyond the perimeter in a game they lost by 10 points. However, it wasn’t just the discrepancy in points from beyond the three-point line that turned the game in the Rockets favor, it was the total number of threes attempted. 

The Rockets took 48 three-pointers while the Jazz countered with just 31. Too often against Houston the Jazz faked a three-point attempt to drive into the paint to take advantage of the Rockets diminutive size. But instead of getting lightly contested three-point shots, the Jazz were settling four tough shots in the paint, specifically int he second half against the Rockets weakside help defense, one of the big reasons the team found themselves on the wrong side of a 38-19 third-quarter performance. 

Effort

It’s not that the Jazz don’t play hard, though that seemed to be the case Friday night against the Spurs, it’s that it seems so apparent when they are playing harder that makes the team’s standard effort feel less than ideal. 

In the second quarter, powered by Jordan Clarkson’s head down attacking style of play, the Jazz were able to erase a double-digit deficit and lead at the half 66-62. Then in the third quarter, the Jazz were telemarking passes, aimlessly throwing the ball to Gobert down low to exploit a perceived mismatch, or playing casual defense against Harden and Westbrook. 

.@russwest44: 🔒 + 🔨 pic.twitter.com/M4wNW1NRbE

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) February 23, 2020

Then again in the fourth quarter, Donovan Mitchell was able to push the team into a higher gear by attacking the rim, trimming the Rockets lead to just six before a late push sealed the victory for Houston. 

Both Mitchell and Mike Conley spoke after the game about the “mindset” of playing harder. The team seems to have stretches where the effort stalls and the Jazz dig themselves too deep of a hole to climb out of. 

“We had a flew slippages,” Mitchell said, “And that leads to them hitting threes and missed rotations.”

Donovan Mitchell discusses the teams slippages in regards to effort for stretches against the Houston Rockets. pic.twitter.com/aSWNRoxz80

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 23, 2020

Conley agreed with Mitchell and elaborated on where the lack of effort becomes apparent on the floor.

“A lot of it is what we can control,” Conley said, “Our effort and our ability to come out with a mindset that we will be the team that hits first and get every single loose ball and get every single rebound. That’s the kind of mindset we have to have. We’re not good enough to just walk into games and play lackadaisical and take possessions off. Good teams like tonight will beat us.” 

“We’re not good enough to just walk into games and play lackadaisical and take possessions off. Good teams like tonight will beat us.” pic.twitter.com/D3vFd64C4n

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 23, 2020

The positive for the Jazz is it’s difficult to imagine the team taking long stretches of games off in the playoffs like they seem to have fallen into the trap of doing in losses during the regular season. However, that’s a dangerous switch to count on flipping if the team can’t identify it before the end of the regular season.

The Big Picture

The Jazz both fell behind the Rockets in both the standings and the tie-breaker scenario. The Rockets won two of three meetings with the Jazz head-to-head which would determine home-court advantage in the first round should the teams finish the season with identical records. Strangely enough, neither team was able to win on their home floor in the three matchups. 

Aside from overall exhaustion from seeing one another for two straight seasons, a matchup with the Rockets in the first round is likely one the Jazz would prefer to avoid if possible, even if it meant meeting with the more talented Los Angeles Clippers. Houston’s style of play has given the Jazz fits for several consecutive years, regardless of personnel and a potential third straight season-ending series at the hands of the Rockets could be particularly demoralizing. 

Five of the Jazz next seven games are against some of the worst teams in the NBA. Peppered around two meetings with the Boston Celtics, the Jazz catch the Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and the Detroit Pistons before the end of the first weekend in March. If the Jazz can take care of business against those non-playoff teams, while splitting the series with Boston they should feel confident for their opening stretch out of the All-Star break, even with back to back losses at home to open the second half of the season.