SALT LAKE CITY – Less than two hours before Utah Jazz would make a big step towards restarting the season with a scrimmage against the Phoenix Suns, head coach Quin Snyder said he was planning to use some different combinations during the almost pre game – Thursday season – also suggesting in one of these unique combinations: Rudy Gobert and Tony Bradley.
In all analyzes of how Jazz would replace the injured Bojan Bogdanovic, it has not yet been discussed. But early in the third quarter, there they were, the two Utah Jazz centers that shared the court
And well, for one night, the combination worked. Or at least Jazz worked around it. In the third quarter, Utah made a 14-2 run to cut a once sizable Suns lead to just two points with one of the highlights being a quick internal move from Gobert to Bradley for a two-handed slam.
And that was one of the only times that Jazz ended Thursday in a game that the Suns won 101-88 at HP Fieldhouse in Orlando, Florida, in both teams’ first NBA bubble setup.
That result, however, made no sense. And there were enough productive moments on Thursday that should have made Utah feel good to move on.
For example, Donovan Mitchell, who looked a bit like an All-Star guard. He scored the first points of Jazz when he took a final rebound pass from Mike Conley and nailed a 3-pointer. That was the beginning of a 17 point night where he was 3 out of 4 from the 3 point distance. Mitchell also had four assists for Utah before checking out for the last time with 2:35 to play in the third quarter after playing only 21 minutes.
Then there was Conley who, after an inconsistent first half, found his rhythm in the third quarter, scoring 8 points in the fourth to put the Jazz back into play. He finished with 12 points and an assist; like Mitchell, Conley also jumped out the last quarter.
And there was the Utah defense, which allowed the suns to do whatever they wanted in the initial half (Phoenix was 17 out of 25 from within the 3-point line – yes, the Jazz defense practically allowed a layup line), but strengthened with Gobert becoming much more engaged and allowing Jazz to make a push. There was a time in Utah that forced five consecutive turnovers.
“We just picked up the third quarter in general,” said Snyder.
Part of this was the little-used, giant-sized combination of Bradley and Gobert.
Mitchell said it reminded him a little of his first two seasons when he shared the court with Gobert and former jazz center forward Derrick Favors.
“When Tony came in, I think he did a great job on the floor,” said Mitchell. “It occurred to me to play with Faves. … I think it’s kind of what I can relate it to. “
While the offended spacing of Jazz has suffered over the years of the Favors-Gobert combo, their collaboration has helped Utah to some great moments, including two wins in the playoff series. And with the Jazz firing 36.4 off the pitch in the first half against the Suns (this team once again fell in love with some mid-range floaters in the beginning), it seemed like a good time to try some new things.
And it counts Gobert as a fan of the bigger lineup.
“I love it. I think it can be a strength if we learn to play together, both defensively and offensively,” said Gobert. “I think we’ve done it a bit in practice over the past few days. Obviously, I’m used to it because I’m used to playing with Faves, but Tony, it’s a little something new. So I believe it. I think it can really be something we can look at and it can be an advantage for us as a team. “
Gobert finished with 5 points and six rebounds; Bradley had 4 points and two rebounds. Bradley was the only jazz musician who closed with a positive / negative positive on Thursday.
Snyder said the lineup is one of many that Jazz wanted to take a look at as they prepare for a reboot on July 30 against the New Orleans pelicans. And yes, it could be used again – or it may not be. This is the fun of these scrimmages. Allows some experiments like tuning for real games to start over.
“I thought it was a combination you could see. At the same time, it’s a combination you might not see, “said Snyder.” It’s really going to dictate for us, depending on the game, depending on the matchups. “
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