PORTLAND — Three thoughts on the Jazz's 99-85 to the Portland Trail Blazers from KSL.com's Utah Jazz writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Jazz don't show up in Portland.

Coming off of a two-game winning streak and a two-day rest, it was reasonable to expect a relatively good Jazz performance against the lower-record Portland Trail Blazers.

Instead, in many ways, the team didn't show up tonight. They were easily dissuaded on offense, playing without force and letting Portland's physical defense slow their offensive attack. They got outrebounded badly, 54-38, including 17-10 on the offensive glass. And then the team was a train wreck defensively, allowing the Trail Blazers to get open 3s all night long. It was ugly all the way around.

A lot of it was mental focus. For whatever reason, many players tonight caught the ball with open looks, then turned them down. Chris Johnson, who ended up unavailable to play in the second half due to viral gastroenteritis, was a key culprit, including passing up this 3, then getting blocked on the 2-point look:

Chris Johnson passing up 3, getting blocked pic.twitter.com/PyquBi3ha9 — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 14, 2016

Then this play was perfect because it encapsulated two of the Jazz's big problems at once: the Blazers picked up an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw, because Booker didn't really box out, then Booker and Hayward don't communicate on who should be guarding C.J. McCollum out of the rebound:

Jazz not getting FT rebound, leading to open POR 3 pic.twitter.com/PrDwMm8LT0 — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 14, 2016

The entire game was filled with plays like this, where the Jazz rotated poorly, gave up on possessions, didn't make the right decision, or just simply turned the ball over. It was ugly.

It would have been easier to explain this sort of performance had it come in harder circumstances. I've mentioned that a few times this season: when you're playing the Spurs, or have tired legs after five games in seven nights, or have all of your players injured, a certain amount of forgiveness comes into play. But Quin Snyder wasn't happy with the Jazz's play tonight against an inferior opponent, with rest.

2. Jazz big men (save one) struggle

Rudy Gobert had one of the worst games of his NBA career Wednesday, going 0-5 from the floor with four turnovers. Jeff Withey struggled too, going just 1-6.

That was a big deal: the Blazers kept focusing on the Jazz's ball-handlers on the pick and roll, leaving the dump off pass to the roll-man open. But because Gobert and Withey missed so many layups and floaters going to the rim early, the Jazz's wings stopped passing the ball inside, which made it hard for them to score.

Both Gobert and Withey added three blocks each, so it wasn't all bad. But offensively, for whatever reason, the hands weren't there for those.

With those two struggling, Snyder went to the dreaded Booker/Trey Lyles pairing for three minutes. Snyder's done better about avoiding that duo together recently, but in just three minutes, the Jazz were outscored by 6 when they were out there on the floor.

The big question: what does the rotation look like when Derrick Favors comes back?

3. Except for Trey Lyles, who played well

The Jazz big man who didn't struggle tonight was Trey Lyles, who is showing what he can add to an NBA team right now, under 40 games into his rookie season. He scored 16 points tonight on only 6-7 shooting, including nailing both 3-point looks he received.

It's worth noting that Lyles was mostly a finisher on offense: he didn't pick up any assists tonight, and only two rebounds. But he is definitely making the right play far more frequently, though not quite bending the defense enough to create significant advantages.

Snyder also complimented Lyles' defense in the post tonight, saying he did a good job of keeping bigger players out of the post when necessary. That's important for Lyles, who mostly played small forward at Kentucky last season. If he plays credible defense inside and out, it will be much easier to keep him on the floor.

Lyles has started 19 of the last 20 games for the Utah Jazz, and honestly, it's becoming clear he should probably be playing ahead of Trevor Booker, who keeps doing a lot of ball-watching for a high-energy player:

Booker ball-watching, jogging in transition, getting beat for the layup pic.twitter.com/X2sJPDeJlu — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 14, 2016

The big question here, though, is whether or not pushing Booker to a smaller role disrupts the locker room. Booker is the Jazz's emotional leader, but can that continue if his play pushes him below Favors, Gobert, Lyles, and Withey? Time will tell. 

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