Four and a half months after the end of the season, Utah Jazz eventually took the field in a pre-boot clash against the Phoenix Suns and lost 101-88. It was great because Jazz basketball was back on our screens. Other than that, well, it wasn’t great, unless you love the countless open shots turned into bad floaters.
It was a good warm-up for the team, and hopefully that’s what it is. Here are some to take away:
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The bad news is that jazz hasn’t sounded great on the whole. The good news is by Donovan Mitchell. He lost 17 points in just 21 minutes in 5-of-8, including 3 of 4 from behind the arch.
Mitchell also got off to a good start with his goal of becoming a more willing passerby and a better director, offering some beautiful passes that led to 4 assists. He also took care of the ball with only 1 turnover. It was a good exit for one of Utah’s two most important players. It left something to be desired on the other side, but it wasn’t just there because …
This is especially true on the perimeter. The Suns were able to open a 19-9 lead in the first 6 minutes of play because the space on their end of the floor was primarily a lay-up line.
The effort improved a lot in the second half, which was a good sign, but the results were still inconsistent. Jazz was able to remain at an impressive distance throughout the third quarter, at which point Quin Snyder sent mostly on the deep bench, which in the end had a few minutes of fun in the end. This from Rayjon Tucker was a beauty.
If the Jazz can’t keep up with the suns during their first action in months, there is no hope of containing the best teams in the league who will play on restart.
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Okay, so I’m not sure it worked so well, but it wasn’t the absolute disaster everyone was waiting for when they took the floor together. Bradley played 12 minutes, and 8 of them arrived in the third quarter where he played alongside Rudy Gobert.
During that time Jazz was a +6. The defense, leaving Bradley on Dario Saric, who burned him a little, was not exceptional. The offense, with Bradley hitting a couple of corners 3, was either hit or miss. The best highlight was this dish from Rudy to Bradley.
Is this something Quin Snyder would be able to go to once game seeding and playoffs begin? I’m probably still inclined not to, but I guess we haven’t seen the last one during these scrimmages.
