October 27th - New Orleans Pelicans vs Utah Jazz - 4-0
Jesus Christ I don't think my heart can take another one.
Okay, so after the total rollercoaster of emotions that was the Nets game, we're back at it again, at home, against the Utah Jazz. This is going to be our toughest test yet, I think: our first back to back, against a team that's been historically pretty strong against us, and last night's game was a doozy. We're really going to need to put the pedal to the metal and strike out hard and fast to put our stamp on tonight.
Utah's strengths: they have the 7th best defensive rating in the league so far, leading to the 6th least opponent's points per game. They do not foul (1st in the league with only 20.3 fouls per game) and they take care of the ball fairly well (11th in the league in turnovers).
Utah's weaknesses: they are close to dead last in rebounding so far this year. 28th offensively, and 25th defensively. They place at the 10th slowest pace, and are the 27th scoring team in the league.
So what does that tell us? If we rebound the way we know we can (the way that we did even in the terrible Nets game), we will handily control the boards. If we run, they are not used to (or equipped for) keeping up with us, and they can't score anyway nearly as well as us. They defend hard, and they defend with discipline, but they cannot score with the kind of ease the teams we've played so far have done, so if we maintain the defensive integrity we saw in the Houston and Sacramento games, we should be able to smother them on that end of the floor.
Key players to watch: Joe Ingles, Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell has shot poorly all season so far, so we have to take a lot of care to make sure that keeps happening. Can't let him get those easy rhythm shots early so that he breaks the ice on us. Ingles, on the other hand, has been red hot all season, shooting 50% from 3 on about 8 attempts per game. He's their second leading scorer, and he plays smart: whoever is guarding him will need to be decisive and keep their eyes open all game. Quick hands, quick feet.
And that's about it! We can win this. We've seen how well we can play, and I know that our team has what it takes. The only question is whether or not they'll manage to muster it up after such a difficult night last night.
Let's go 5-0. #DoItBig.
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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae
