Already deprived of Kevin Durant, the Nets present themselves without James Harden, hit in the thigh, and his absence is felt from the start. The visitors’ game is disjointed, with Kyrie Irving wanting to take the game on his own, but doing everything backwards. For his return, Donovan Mitchell is put in the best possible conditions by his teammates, and the Jazz start with a 10-0. Salt Lake City’s defense is very solid giving the Nets no easy shots, where only Patty Mills and Cam Thomas are trying to raise the bar. The Utah collective unfolds its game plan almost perfectly and at the break, Alex Jensen’s players are well ahead (68-47).
The Nets find the floor, but the opposing waves are gaining strength, which infuriates Steve Nash who sees his people losing a little more footing in adversity. Kyrie Irving crunches too much, and improvises savior of the nation, but everything he does does not bring anything. The Brooklyn collective is light years away from that of Jazz. Steve Nash is upset on his bench, and his players show no ability to react. After a long fourth quarter in the form of “garbage time”, the Jazz closed the festivities with a great basketball lesson (125-102).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– 56.5%. It’s the Jazz’s shooting percentage that we haven’t seen so dashing in a long time. With a very solid 44% from 3-pointers and 33 assists on 48 baskets, Utah offers an ideal stat sheet with five players at 14 points or more. Donovan Mitchell (27 points) is the best scorer of his team, but we must not forget the impact of Eric Paschall (16 points) and Hassan Whiteside (15 points) off the bench.
– Seven. Like the number of straight losses for the Nets, all conceded against teams in the West. The band of Kyrie Irving is in the hard, and even the very hard for 15 days. The last victory dates back to January 21 in San Antonio, and since then it’s been nothing! Seven losses in a row, and between James Harden transfer rumors and the injury of Kevin Durant, the Nets are going through a real crisis.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Donovan Mitchell. Back, the Jazz franchise player did not disappoint. With 27 points, including a sublime 6/7 from afar, 6 assists and 3 rebounds in just 22 minutes, he brought smiles to Utah fans. Very comfortable in his movements, he was incredibly easy. For Udoka Azubuike, it felt like being in “a video game”.
✅ Bojan Bogdanovic. The Croatian knows that he will have to compensate for the absence of Joe Ingles, “out” for many months, and he has responded. 19 points, but above all 11 shots and 4 assists for Bojna Bogdanovic, who finished with a +/- of… +36! Perfect in his role, he does not hesitate either to take the baton to relieve Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell.
✅ Camera Thomas. The rookie out of LSU was hard-hitting on offense, not hesitating to take any available shot. In the first half, he slams 14 points in 11 minutes of playing time (6/9 including 2/3 at 3-points). Even if the match will be folded quickly, it offers a best performance in career with 30 points.
⛔ Kyrie Irving. Supposed to be the leader of his team in the absence of Kevin Durant and James Harden, Kyrie Irving went through his meeting in all its width. Too individualistic, not coordinated with his teammates, he played backwards, and did not lead by example as he should. Already he plays very few games in the jersey of the Nets, he cannot afford to perform too often performances as poor as this one…
THE FOLLOWING
Utah (32-21) : reception of the Knicks on Monday.
Brooklyn (29-23) : continuation and end of their road trip to the West with a match Sunday in Denver.
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