Untenable for a month, between mid-December and mid-January (15 victories and 4 defeats), the Jazz has experienced a slight slowdown since then, with three defeats conceded successively: against the Thunder, the Rockets then the Pelicans.
However, this bad series is not alarming, because Utah was inevitably going to come back down to earth, and it at least has the merit of allowing the franchise to target its areas of improvement.
“ No matter what happens during the day, you have to find a way to put the pressure on and increase it when the clock says 7 p.m. » warns the coach, Will Hardy. “ You have to find a way to play as if there were fire for 2-3 hours and then you can return to a state of fatigue. »
That Lauri Markkanen can only confirm: “ When the games start, we have to find a way to put the pressure on and increase it. Yes, [les Pelicans] were able to go on the counterattack and score a lot of 3-pointers, but they also played with more energy than us and they were much more physical than us. »
The group must stay united
Tested and now expected in difficulty, the Jazz players are therefore coming out of a slap in New Orleans where, defensively, in desire and in the fight, they particularly worried. Faced with confident adversaries, this was unforgiving…
“ It's one of those evenings where we are very happy that [la défaite] only counts for one match in the balance sheet, whether you lose by 90 points or by just one point. The result is the same » Will Hardy said bitterly ironically afterwards, in reference to his team's -29. “ The reality is that the team needs to get its act together now. The reality of this match and the previous two is that we are not playing hard enough. »
Also not helped by a grueling schedule in the run-up to the trade deadline and the All-Star break, Utah can however count on a real strength: that of numbers.
“ The positive point is that the team is united. The other positive point is that we continue to play well offensively » tempers Will Hardy, while the Jazz (22-23) will play four more away games before returning home.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Lauri Markkanen | 35 | 32.5 | 49.0 | 39.0 | 87.6 | 2.4 | 6.3 | 8.7 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 23.6 |
| Jordan Clarkson | 35 | 30.1 | 42.1 | 31.3 | 88.7 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 18.1 |
| Collin Sexton | 45 | 24.2 | 49.2 | 37.9 | 88.5 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 4.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 17.5 |
| John Collins | 41 | 27.5 | 49.9 | 35.6 | 80.0 | 2.0 | 5.7 | 7.6 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 13.8 |
| Talen Horton Tucker | 31 | 21.5 | 40.8 | 32.7 | 80.0 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 10.9 |
| Keyonte George | 39 | 24.3 | 36.7 | 32.8 | 81.4 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 10.9 |
| Simone Fontecchio | 43 | 22.9 | 45.6 | 39.9 | 78.9 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 9.1 |
| Walker Kessler | 37 | 24.0 | 64.8 | 25.0 | 48.3 | 2.6 | 5.1 | 7.6 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 8.5 |
| Kelly Olynyk | 43 | 20.6 | 55.3 | 40.5 | 85.1 | 1.3 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 8.0 |
| Ochai Agbaji | 45 | 20.1 | 43.5 | 33.1 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 5.8 |
| Kris Dunn | 37 | 17.6 | 47.9 | 38.5 | 66.7 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 5.1 |
| Taylor Hendricks | 13 | 14.0 | 39.7 | 34.3 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 4.9 |
| Omer Yurtseven | 24 | 10.7 | 50.0 | 20.0 | 60.0 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 3.5 |
| Luka Samanic | 20 | 6.3 | 37.5 | 23.8 | 84.6 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 2.9 |
| Brice Sensabaugh | 4 | 2.9 | 33.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Mike Potter | 2 | 3.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Johnny Juzang | 1 | 4.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
