23rd November - New Orleans Pelicans @ Utah Jazz - 6-9
6-9? Nice.
Tonight we're still on the road taking on the Utah Jazz. Sadly, Favors is not travelling with the team due to his injury so his return to Utah will have to be delayed. This is a back to back for Utah, who spent last night in a life-and-death 113-109 battle against the Golden State Warriors, which is a good thing for us: Utah is 10-5, which is not a bad record by any means but they have had their struggles, and catching them on the back-side of a big struggle against a terrible team is a good thing.
Here's the injury report:
In addition to Hart and Okafor (QUESTIONABLE), Derrick Favors (left lower back spasms), Darius Miller (right Achilles surgery) and Zion Williamson (right knee scope) are OUT for tomorrow’s game at Utah. Details: https://t.co/QceBX0I1Eu
— Pelicans PR (@PelicansPR) November 22, 2019
So pretty much the same as last game, then. I'll update later with the starting line-up so we can see whether Ball is going to remain on the bench or not.
Utah is pretty healthy by contrast, only Ed Davis is out really.
So, what are Utah good at? Simple: defense. They're the number 1 ranked defense in the NBA, and the 24th ranked offense. If we can execute our offense at top level tonight, while simultaneously cranking the defense up the way we generally have recently, this is within reach. Their offense simply isn't good enough to crack through a great defense, whereas we know that ours can be when everything is clicking; so we've gotta click. What does that means?
It means that we have to win the rebounding battle. Utah are 18th in the NBA in rebounds, but 4th in defensive rebounds: if we can crash the offensive glass for second chance points that will help us take away one of their strengths (they don't give up second chance buckets often). As for defending them, it's simple: Utah are 27th in the NBA in assists per game, and are often liable to falling into Mitchell iso-ball at times. Let them, and try to encourage it; stay home on wing shooters, maybe help slightly late at times, and demand that they play a slow, bogged down style. We have guys like Jrue who are obviously skilled enough to take that point-of-attack assignment.
For me, the biggest learning experience tonight will be Jaxson vs Gobert. Jaxson has been really really good recently, there's no real question about that in my mind, but Gobert is elite. He's averaging 13 points and 14 rebounds again, leading the NBA in screen assists, averaging over 2 blocks a night, and he leads the league in defensive rating (94). He's just as tall as Jax, just as long, and heavier. Seeing how Hayes deals with someone like this will be interesting: even though he's probably not going to win that battle, seeing how much resistance he puts up will be very revealing.
Well, that's about it! Let's hope for the win, but even if we lose I don't mind too much as long as we put up a fight. #WBD
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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G
