SALT LAKE CITY — Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz's 116-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves from KSL.com's Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Jazz outbattle Timberwolves in an emotional game

With three ejections, five total technical fouls, a flagrant two, and a close game late, that was the most physical game of the 2017-18 regular season for the Utah Jazz so far. Let's look at all of the highlights.

First, we have to talk about Karl-Anthony Towns' ejection. Towns was ejected in the first half with two separate technical fouls in a minute. It was a quick ejection, in my opinion.

After the game, I interviewed referee crew chief Kane Fitzgerald about both technicals.

"The first technical foul was assessed during the review for the dead-ball contact for the elbow to the face to (Jae) Crowder. Dead-ball contact, technical foul. The second technical foul was for continuous complaint. Three or four plays in a row, he was complaining, and a technical foul was given," Fitzgerald said.

Here's my complaint: this is the first technical foul. Does the elbow happen before the whistle, or after? In my mind, it's nearly simultaneous, certainly too quick to argue that Towns' elbow is during a dead ball.

Here's the play in which Towns gets his first technical... IMO it's really hard to argue that the elbow is dead-ball contact pic.twitter.com/11G5g8D0gx — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) March 3, 2018

The second technical is [here](https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/969798496063836160), though it contains a swear word. Complaining to a referee continuously is grounds for a second technical under the rules of the game, but I felt that Fitzgerald was too quick with this one in an important game for playoff positioning. Instead, he could have waited just 23 more seconds and waited for Towns to cool. We were prevented from having a second half of what was a really intriguing Towns/Rudy Gobert matchup.

Towns certainly would have liked to be out on the court for this play, where Jeff Teague body checks Ricky Rubio after Rubio bothered him defensively on the previous possession.

Jeff Teague absolutely blew Ricky Rubio up... and was summarily ejected. pic.twitter.com/3HJ2IPOqnv — Chris Long (@ChrisLongKSTP) March 3, 2018

"I just felt it was a cheap shot. 100 percent," Crowder said. "Never went for the ball, just shoved him. And the rest is history."

This is a no-brainer flagrant 2, and Teague was rightly ejected. But after the play, Rubio's teammate, Crowder, ran to confront Teague, leading to a kerfuffle.

"You stick up for your teammates. I want to be part of this family and being a part of it is sticking up for your brother and playing for one another," Crowder said. "That's what I'm about and that's what I bring. I hope someone would do it for me. I felt like it was a bad play."

Crowder was actually ejected himself after getting two quick technicals for jawing first with Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau and then with the referees on a call five minutes later.

With all of that happening, and in front of a sellout crowd, the game felt like a battle throughout. That's great playoff-esque experience for the Jazz, and should let them know what to expect for the remaining 20 games of the season.

Normally, you'd be worried about the impact of the physical game on the second leg of a back-to-back tomorrow night, but the Jazz are playing the Sacramento Kings, who had no wins against above .500 teams in February.

2. Rudy Gobert's breakout game

Gobert had perhaps his best game of the season. He finished with 26 points (a season high), 16 rebounds, and four blocked shots.

First, let's talk about the scoring. Gobert got 12 points from the free-throw line on only 14 attempts, for 86 percent on the game. That's a big step forward for Gobert, who was intentionally sent to the free-throw line not too long ago. Now, he's shooting 69 percent on the season.

His other baskets were on layups and dunks, either from offensive rebounds or from teammates' assists inside. He used his height and length advantage repeatedly, especially when compared to Taj Gibson and Gorgui Dieng.

The rebounding was great, too. Look at him pull down this defensive rebound and pass it to a teammate, all while having his arm held behind Gibson's back:

Rudy Gobert pulls down this offensive rebound despite having his arm around the back of Taj Gibson: pic.twitter.com/88ssXDGY4A — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) March 3, 2018

That's pretty impressive.

But my favorite part of Gobert's game was his defense. After a bad missed goaltending call from Fitzgerald (this is a theme), Gobert made it up with two consecutive blocks:

All Eyes N🚫 pic.twitter.com/xo7do9Htb7 — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2018

Gobert ended up with four blocks total, and the Wolves were limited to 18 shots at the rim. The Jazz got 35.

3. Royce defense on Jamal Crawford

I've heard Jamal Crawford referred to as a Jazz killer on multiple occasions, and it turns out that that assertion is based in fact: Crawford has averaged more points per game against the Jazz (17.4 points per contest) than against any other team.

He also takes more shots against the Jazz than anyone else, for good reason: the Jazz have typically lacked the kind of defenders against quick shooting guards that can reliably stay in front of the shifty Crawford.

But tonight, Crawford scored only two points for the Wolves in nearly 29 minutes on the court on 1-of-7 shooting. Sure, he added four assists, but had two turnovers too.

Why was Crawford ineffective? The Jazz played terrific defense on him all night long. Royce O'Neale deserves credit for staying in front of Crowder's shakes throughout, including on plays like this:

Underrated part of the game: the Jazz's defense on Jamal Crawford. He has his best scoring averages against the Jazz of all 30 NBA teams, but tonight they played well. Here's Royce: pic.twitter.com/AmdfrYuYaH — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) March 3, 2018

But I thought Joe Ingles did a nice job with the "backside contest." As the Jazz trailed him around screens, Ingles stayed attached to Crawford without fouling, making his shots much harder than they looked because Ingles was lingering nearby.

And here's Jingles: pic.twitter.com/fUsKexgSVa — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) March 3, 2018

Hearing those footsteps and seeing that hand in your peripheral vision is really disconcerting for even the best shooters, and I thought it showed with Crawford tonight. It was the first time he's scored two points or fewer against the Jazz since his rookie year way back in the year 2000. In a close game like this one, limiting Crawford made a huge difference. 

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