The Triple Team: 3 thoughts on Jazz vs. Bucks


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SALT LAKE CITY — Three thoughts on the Jazz's 84-81 win over the Milwaukee Bucks from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. New game, same story

I suppose this game was technically different than the one the Jazz played against Denver Wednesday night. After all, the final score read 84-81, not 85-81 at the end of the night.

But it was basically the same.

  • On Wednesday, the Jazz started the game slowly by scoring 40 points in the first half. On Friday, the Jazz started the game slowly by scoring 40 points in the first half.
  • On Wednesday the Jazz allowed 35 points in the second half. On Friday, they allowed 37 points.
  • On Wednesday, Derrick Favors made up for a poor jump-shooting performance by picking up 11 rebounds and 6 blocks. On Friday, Favors made up for a poor jump-shooting performance by picking up 15 rebounds and 5 blocks.
  • On Wednesday, some weird calls frustrated fans at Vivint Arena. On Friday, some weird calls frustrated fans at Vivint Arena.
  • On Wednesday, the dominant defense overcame the struggling offense, and the Jazz ended up prevailing in a close game over a 19-win team. On Friday, the dominant defense overcame the struggling offense, and the Jazz ended up prevailing in a close game over a 20-win team.
Yeah, some different stuff happened, I guess. Rodney Hood was the Jazz's leading scorer Friday after struggling Wednesday, for example. The bench was good Wednesday, and not Friday. Stuff like that. But the overall narrative was the same, and it's been impressive to see the Jazz pull these games out after losing close ones like them all season long.

The difference between winning these close games and losing the previous ones is easy to see: the clutch-time defense has been radically better with Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert available and healthy. Another similarity between the two games: in the last four minutes, the Jazz allowed just one opposing field goal make. That'll win you a lot of close ones.

2. Milwaukee's length makes for interesting tactical matchup

The Bucks are a unique team because of their size and length across all positions. Their point guard, Michael Carter-Williams, is 6'6'' and their starting lineup only gets bigger from there.

That presented a couple of interesting matchup problems for the Jazz. On the offensive end, the size meant that the Bucks did a good job of either trapping or switching the Jazz's pick and rolls, which gave them problems all night. Utah is pretty good at attacking an initial advantage on screens, but not so good at attacking a matchup deficiency or a 4-on-3 opportunity.

On the defensive end, the Bucks' size means that they put significant emphasis on going inside for their baskets: they're just 29th in the league in 3-point shots attempted. But the Jazz did a good job of walling off the paint, by going underneath nearly all of the Bucks' pick and rolls (except for those involving Khris Middleton and Jarryd Bayless), and even occasionally loading up the strong side to deter the Bucks from driving.

That really frustrated Milwaukee. First, it meant they took a lot of mid-range jumpers, and missed a lot of them too: they were just 3-18 from outside the paint but inside the arc Friday. Secondly, that also meant a lot of turnovers as the Bucks tried to get the ball into the interior. In the end, the Bucks had 20 turnovers which led to 22 Jazz points.

They also only picked up nine assists for the whole game, tied for the low among any team in an NBA game this season. Again, the Jazz simply didn't give the Bucks many opportunities to move the ball and find open shots for their teammates, and were rewarded with a win.

3. Five in a row makes the conference standings very interesting

Finishing out this homestand with five consecutive wins for the Jazz is important for the team making the playoffs. Coming into the homestand, one model estimated the Jazz had a 38 percent chance of making the playoffs. After this homestand, it'll be about 80 percent likely.

Of course, the model didn't know that the Jazz were struggling due to their injury situation, and that once the team got healthy, they were always likely to start picking up some wins. So those numbers overstate the importance of the winning streak a little bit. But there's no doubt that the five wins make an interesting set of standings for Jazz fans.

Why? The Jazz are now in a three-way tie in the loss column for sixth in the Western Conference standings. Making it to the sixth seed would be really, really helpful, because then Utah would be able to avoid the Golden State and San Antonio juggernauts. That might mean more games, a more competitive series, and more learning from the first round playoff opportunity for a young team.

And, of course, it's more fun for the fans, and might mean a more appealing destination for the free agents this summer. A team that finishes at the sixth seed is a team on the way up, a situation some free agents might want to join up with.

The team now has three road games before the All-Star break. A strong finish, especially in the game against Dallas, would be monumentally helpful for the Jazz's standing in the standings.

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