NEW ORLEANS — Three thoughts on the Jazz's 127-94 win over the New Orleans Pelicans from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Offense on a roll again

After Monday night's game, I wrote that the Jazz had their best offensive performance in the post-Sloan era, thanks to a 132 offensive rating against the league's fourth-best defense in Atlanta.

Well, it was a short-lived title. Tonight, the Jazz ended up with a 137 offensive rating against the league's 8th-best defensive team. They shot 54.5 percent from the field, 44 percent from 3, and 81 percent from the free throw line. They avoided turnovers (only throwing the ball away eight times), they dominated the glass (getting 12 offensive rebounds to only seven for the Pelicans), and they moved the ball (25 assists). Everything that you can do well, the Jazz did well.

Joe Johnson led the team in scoring with 27 points, but when he was asked about it postgame, he didn't give himself any credit. "Just being the recipient of great ball movement" was the key, said Johnson. "You never know who is going to step up and have that big game."

Quin Snyder, too, was complimentary of the passing element of the Jazz's success. "Offensively, we're just sharing the ball. Guys are spaced well, and good things happen when you're unselfish," Snyder said. And he complemented his leading scorer not about his shotmaking, but about his passing. "For a guy nicknamed iso-Joe, he sure is a good passer."

That shows in how the other Jazzmen got going. The Jazz had seven players who scored double figures, and time after time the Jazz worked their way to getting open shots from inside and out.

This is such a good looking shot chart. The Jazz got 36 shots at the rim, 12 corner threes, then 20 more threes from behind the break. It's beautiful.

This play was flukish, but I think it says a lot that Hayward was both able to catch this errant pass from Dante Exum and had the strength to swing the ball crosscourt with a one hand pass. You don't make this pass unless you're very confident and looking to make the pass right away.

It's Joe Time! 🔥⏲🔥#MACU3#UTAatNOPpic.twitter.com/JCgiVqnP5G — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 9, 2017

It's that kind of mentality that has gotten the Jazz to some elite offensive performances.

2. Favors and Gobert shut down Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis was voted in as a Western Conference starter for the All-Star game, averaging 27.9 points per game while shooting over 50 percent and 12.1 rebounds per game. That's fifth and sixth in the NBA, respectively.

Well, Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors shut him down tonight. Davis only got 12 shots, made just four of them, and finished with only 12 points. He did pick up 10 rebounds, but he ended up as a -35 in the 30 minutes he was on the floor. That won't help his overall numbers.

So how did the Jazz do it? Mostly, they scared Davis. Literally all four AD's makes tonight were dunks: every other shot came from outside. Repeatedly, the length of Gobert and Favors convinced Davis to shoot it early. But what makes them unique is how they're able to give opponents that impression while also getting back up into them to contest the shot.

I thought it was interesting that the Jazz started the game with Favors guarding Davis, the nominal center in the Pelicans' lineup, while Gobert played against Terrence Jones, usually considered more of a stretch four. I think that choice surprised the Pelicans. They play with so many actions with Davis at the top of the key that having Gobert guard Jones kept him closer to the basket for longer. And honestly, Gobert left Jones repeatedly to help on various actions.

3. State of the Jazz

The Jazz have four more games until the All-Star break: one more road game against the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow, then three somewhat tough games against the Celtics, Clippers, and Trail Blazers at home. Then, everyone but Gordon Hayward, Trey Lyles, and Dante Exum will have the week off before they travel to Milwaukee and the start of another 3-game road trip.

This is the easy part of their schedule, but they're taking advantage. Even if you take into account the relatively favorable schedule, the Jazz are on pace for 52 wins, and of course, they're finally getting healthy.

And it's not just because they're getting lucky in close games: these blowout wins against opponents are showing that the Jazz can be an elite team. Right now, they have the third best net rating in the league, which I never would have predicted this late into the season.

It will get harder. But for now, they're in the four seed, two games up on the Clippers, and three games out of the three seed. That three seed would be very nice: it would mean postponing a matchup with the Golden State Warriors until the Western Conference finals.

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