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HOUSTON — The Utah Jazz didn't have a traditional practice on Monday, instead choosing to prioritize rest and a lengthy film session at the team hotel. Jae Crowder, Royce O'Neale, and head coach Quin Snyder spoke to the media afterward.
Playing coy with strategy
The Jazz know they have to defend James Harden with more force and urgency than they did in Game 1, where he led Houston with 41 points on 26 shots. But when pressed for specifics on how to defend the league's likely MVP, Snyder played coy.
"You ask him to miss," Snyder joked. "You say, 'please, James, will you miss this time down the court,' and you hope he’s magnanimous about it."
O'Neale felt the same way, telling a reporter: "I'm not going to give you the recipe, and then you type it, and he reads it. We just have to make it tough."
Six of Harden's seven 3-point shots made were stepback or pull-up jumpers with defenders contesting. And while those are tough shots for anyone else in the league, Harden is good enough at them that the Jazz will want to do more to get him out of his rhythm.
"We have to do a better job. Even if it's contested, is that enough?" Snyder asked. "I don't think it is."
"Give James Harden credit, he made a lot of shots with a hand in his face. I still feel like we could have done more," Crowder said. "We want to take the three out of the game as much as possible.
Donovan Mitchell's ankle
Jazz fans were very concerned after Mitchell's fourth-quarter play, where Eric Gordon of the Rockets seemed to step on Mitchell's ankle in transition.
Donovan Mitchell rolls his ankle 😓 pic.twitter.com/OqImDvHYez — Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 29, 2018
Mitchell sat out for the first minute or so following the injury, but he was inserted back into the game for a short stretch in the fourth before exiting with a couple of minutes left to go. The ankle wasn't a topic today at the Jazz's film session, with all assumptions being Mitchell would be good to play by Wednesday.
That's especially true after what Snyder said about the issue on Sunday night when he called it a "tweak."
"Obviously we wouldn't have put him back in if there was an issue," Snyder said.
Nor did Mitchell appear to have any special treatment done on the ankle after leaving the locker room Sunday night. A status for Mitchell in Game 2 hasn't been officially announced, but all signs look good.
Police chief bet
Police chiefs from the cities of Salt Lake City and Houston felt a friendly bet was in order going into the series between the Rockets and the Jazz.
It's not looking good for Chief Mike Brown of Salt Lake City so far, after a Game 1 Jazz loss. On the other hand, the Jazz faced the same situation after losing Game 1 in Oklahoma City and came back to win four of the next five games.
