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SALT LAKE CITY — The 2014-15 edition of the Utah Jazz is all about taking steps forward after taking steps back.
Friday, the Jazz took a step back, falling 101-88 on the road to the Golden State Warriors. Saturday, Utah took another step back, losing to the Anthony Davis-led New Orleans Pelicans, 106-94.
A night after surrendering 101 points to Golden State, Snyder said the team is struggling to maintain defensive consistency.
“We’re just searching,” he said. “We just weren’t physical enough at the beginning of the game. We can’t work our way into it.”
Defensively, Utah struggled throughout the night to finish possessions. As such, Davis scored a career-high 43 points, and the Jazz surrendered 18 offensive rebounds. Also, the Pelicans outscored the Jazz 56-42 in the paint.
Snyder said Davis is one of the toughest players in the league to guard.
"We just weren't physical enough at the beginning of the game," said Jazz coach Quin Snyder. "We can't work our way into it."
“There was really never an opportunity to double (Davis), because he goes so quickly when he gets the ball,” he said. “The thing you can’t do is give him some easy baskets, and he got some of those tonight. That puts fuel on the fire.”
Utah forward Gordon Hayward said the Pelicans do a good job of working around Davis.
“They do a lot of good things to find him in spots where he can be successful,” said Hayward, who finished with 31 points of his own. “He’s been doing that all year, and they have other good pieces around him. They’re very talented, and we’ve just got to be able to take them out of what they want to do.
“We were able to do that in the third quarter. We’ve got to just be able to play the whole game like that.”
Utah trailed 25-23 at the end of the first quarter, but the Pelicans went on a 32-17 run in the second quarter to take a 57-40 halftime lead. The Jazz went on a run of their own in the third quarter, led by Hayward. However, the team struggled in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 29-22.
Snyder said it was a result of expending so much energy getting back into the game.
“You expend so much energy trying to battle back, and there’s a natural ebb and flow to the game,” he said, referring to Utah’s 32-20 run in the third quarter. “Guys get tired. You try to sub and keep guys fresh, but the offensive rebounds and turnovers … those things take your energy, too.”
As Utah tries to find itself in the midst of a two-game losing streak, Hayward said there are no moral victories to be had.
“A loss is a loss in my book,” he said. “I think this year we’re fighting a bit more, execution-wise we’ve just got to be better. We’ve got to think when we’re out there on the court because I think we’re playing hard, for the most part. I think guys are competing, and I think it’s just one of those things where it’s a lack of execution, both offensively and defensively.”
Utah hosts Chicago Monday. The Jazz haven't won a season series against the Bulls since the 2009-10 season, but beat Chicago in an overtime game last November in Salt Lake City, 89-83.
Snyder said the team has to quickly correct mistakes
“Monday’s game’s going to be unbelievably difficult,” he said. “They’re one of the best teams in the league. We just have to dig in, do what we can do, control what we can control, and try to get better. That’s pretty much the formula that we’ve had the whole year. Sometimes you don’t play as well as you want to.”
NOTE: Former BYU guard Jimmer Fredette had an assist and a steal for New Orleans.
“It’s great to be back here to see family and friends that I was so close with the four years I was at BYU,” he said.
