Jazz Are No Shows In Blowout Loss To Nets

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz got blown out by the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday night 130-96.

The loss, the team’s first on the road this season, developed quickly as the Jazz found themselves down 20-4 with just over six minutes left in the first quarter and never recovered.

Nets guard Kyrie Irving was a perfect 7-7 shooting in the opening quarter, including 4-4 from the three-point line to end the Jazz night before it ever really started. Irving finished with 29 points but wasn’t relied upon heavily after his 18 points opening quarter.

Great timing to have a game on Wednesday night. @utahjazz will face the Knicks tomorrow.#TakeNote https://t.co/RbKPgyj9Gk

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 6, 2021

Allen Dominates Gobert

Rudy Gobert hasn’t won his head-to-head matchup every night, though is rarely less impactful than an opposing center. His matchup with Jarrett Allen bucked the trend.

Allen outscored, outrebounded, out-defended, and simply outplayed Gobert every minute the two were on the floor. The Nets young center had more energy, was better on his defensive rotations, and showed more bounce than Gobert who had his worst game of the season by a large margin.

19 points
18 rebounds
3 steals
2 blocks

The only Nets to ever put up those numbers in a game are Kenyon Martin and Jarrett Allen. pic.twitter.com/x12ZsZNmm2

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 6, 2021

Allen finished with 19 points, 18 rebounds, and two blocks on 8-9 shooting in 32 minutes. Gobert meanwhile finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks on 3-10 shooting in 30 minutes.

“I started the game soft,” Gobert said of his matchup with Allen. “That gave him confidence, gave him confidence that he could do anything he wanted.”

Allen’s point and rebound totals were season highs for the fourth-year center in his first start of the year.

Mitchell Climbs Out Of His Slump

Though the Jazz were blown out, it appears that Donovan Mitchell has ended his early-season slump.

Mitchell was averaging 19.8 points while shooting just 35 percent from the floor and 30 percent from three through five games to open the season.

Over his last two outings, the All-Star guard is shooting 46 percent from the floor, 47 percent from three, and averaging 26.5 points.

🕷🕷🕷 pic.twitter.com/QYLkW0utHh

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 6, 2021

He simply didn’t get any help from his teammates tonight, but it’s a good sign for the team that invested $195 million in the guard during the offseason.

“We just didn’t do much right today as a whole and that can’t happen after a really good performance,” Mitchell said of the Jazz’s play. ” It’s been the story all season.”

The Jazz are going to have nights when they don’t shoot well and will need Mitchell to carry the load offensively. Unfortunately, the team’s defense didn’t show up against Brooklyn, so there was very little Mitchell could do alone.

Bogdanovic Playing Bad Basketball

The Jazz simply aren’t seeing good basketball consistently from Bojan Bogdanovic. After a brilliant performance against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, Bogdanovic was a no show again for the Jazz.

The sharpshooter connected on just 2-7 shots from the floor, and 0-3 from deep for a total of four points, three rebounds, and one assist.

Bogdanovic has now had four games where he’s scored nine points or fewer through the Jazz first seven outings.

Last season, Bogdanovic has five such games all year. The forward didn’t have his first single-digit scoring game for the Jazz until his 20th outing of the year.

Remember how bad Bogdanovic was in the preseason?

Wonder if he needs a few games to get going after a break.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 27, 2020

It isn’t time to hit the panic button yet for the Jazz as Bogdanovic is coming off wrist surgery in May that kept him off the basketball court for nine months. Additionally, the forward has a history of slow starts to his seasons.

Last year, Bogdanovic averaged eight points and shot just 27 percent from the floor and 25 percent from the three-point line in five preseason games.

Bogdanovic also struggled coming back from the All-Star break averaging 11.5 points over four games while shooting just 26 percent from the floor and 17 percent from three.

The Jazz should feel confident that Bogdanovic will bounce back at some point this season, but his slow start has hurt the Jazz, especially in their losses. The team is just 1-3 in games this season when Bogdanovic scores fewer than 10 points.

The Jazz can now turn their attention to the New York Knicks on a quick turnaround. The Jazz and Knicks tip-off Wednesday night at 5:30 pm MT.