Jazz take another step forward in defensive victory over Milwaukee


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz are definitely getting better.

They take steps forward, with steps backward. However, at this point, there are more steps forward than backward.

For instance, this week alone, the Jazz beat the defending champion San Antonio Spurs Monday, lost to the woeful Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday, then blew out the middling Denver Nuggets Friday.

Against the improving Milwaukee Bucks Saturday, Utah took another step forward, getting an 82-75 win over the Bucks — a victory built on defense and making due.

The up-and-down nature of the season is something Jazz coach Quin Snyder expected, and he said it’s something the team has to embrace.

“I don’t know that there’s a lot in life that is just a steady incline,” he said. “I think the main thing is you try and minimize the dips, and keep tracking upwards.

“Every team is different; they’re trying to maximize each individual guy. When you put those guys together — how they compliment each other — we’re learning more and more about our team as the year goes on. It’s fun; it’s like living art.”

#UJ

Utah opened up the game with a 26-18 lead over the Bucks. Utah’s first quarter featured eight bench points from Trey Burke, and a stat line of seven points, six rebounds and three blocks from Rudy Gobert.

After the hot start though, the Jazz cooled off over the next few quarters. In fact, Milwaukee took a 54-51 lead in the third quarter, until Utah went on a 7-1 run to finish the off the quarter with a 58-55 lead. Then, the Jazz went on a 7-2 run to start the fourth quarter.

Snyder said what changed the tide in the third quarter was simply getting more energy.

“Both teams were having such a hard time scoring,” he said. “I thought at the beginning of the quarter, we had a couple layups, had a couple open looks from three and it’s hard to continue to defend when you’re not scoring.”

The Jazz had another strong defensive performance, holding the Bucks to 39.2 percent shooting. The team also forced 23 turnovers.

While much of Utah’s recent defensive praise has been in reference to Gobert, Snyder said the entire Jazz roster is improving.

“I think we’ve been very good defensively, even without Rudy,” he said. “In fact, I don’t know what the numbers show, but we’ve been equally effective even with him on the bench. There’s a lot of guys who are taking a lot of pride defensively.”

Trey Burke led Utah with 23 points off the bench. The point guard made 5-of-10 three-point shots, and also dished out six assists.

Burke said the key to his night was getting into a rhythm early.

“They were really taking away that middle, and a lot of time we would just pass the ball out on the perimeter,” he said. “That’s a shot you’ve got to shoot with confidence, and I got stuck with a couple of shots like that. It’s about just making reads, and coming off the pick-and-roll, you’ve got to see how the defense is playing you and make the right read.”

While his offense was the focus, Burke said he was proudest of his defense. Over the course of the night, several Bucks guards tried to post him up. As he defended, he said he thought back to lessons from former Jazz coach Ty Corbin.

“The first half, they tried to go at me in the post,” he said. “Since I came into the league, that’s one thing coach Corbin and those guys taught me was, they try to post you up, you have to set a tone right away. They scored maybe twice, but I let it be known that it was going to be hard.”

After a day off Sunday, the Jazz will head out Monday for the start of a four-game road trip, beginning with Memphis Tuesday.

The road has been an adventure for the Jazz this season, and Snyder said it tests young teams.

“I think the road has stretched our team in ways that are beyond basketball,” he said. “We’ve kind of been through this odyssey on the road that maybe isn’t quite apparent. I think our team has grown together, and often times, what happens on the court reflects that a little bit.”

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Jon Oglesby

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