When it comes to sports, we don’t ever want to give in to predictability. No matter how long the odds, we don’t want to accept that a team doesn’t have a chance. If we gave in to that feeling, there would be no reason to watch.
Well, despite how dominant the Warriors have looked this postseason, we’re still watching their matchup with the Jazz because we want to believe Utah has a chance, even after they lost 106-94 in Game 1.
The Jazz did a lot of things right in Game 1. The won the rebounding battle, 44-37, and only gave up five offensive rebounds to the Warriors. They were also able to limit the Warriors 3-point shooting (as much as one can without a little luck) and the Warriors shot a shocking 7-of-29 from beyond the arc. Utah also maintained their preferred pace pace on offense grinding out possessions in the halfcourt.
However, they made some mistakes, too, and when you’re up against the Warriors, just one mistake could be too many.
The biggest problem was turnovers. Their 14 in the game isn’t an absurd total, but Derek James summed up why the Jazz turnovers were still an issue in Monday night’s Rotation.
"It wasn’t the 14 turnovers the Jazz committed; it was the 20 points allowed off of those turnovers. Each miscue was a welcomed fastbreak opportunity for Golden State. The Jazz committed six turnovers in the first quarter, allowing their opponent to establish rhythm and gather momentum."
The Jazz also didn’t do themselves any favors with shot selection and inefficient shooting. They only attempted 12 free throws and made just 9-of-29 3-pointers. A good number of their 3-point attempts were contested, so those misses turned into long rebounds. Long rebounds are basically the next best thing for the Warriors transition game, after a live-ball turnover.
On the offensive end, not only do they need to take better shots, but they need to take better advantage of mismatches. There were a few times during the game when Gordon Hayward, Joe Ingles, and other members of the Jazz got Golden State’s bigs other than Green and Kevin Durant to switch onto them on the perimeter, and then just settled for a jumper. Utah’s offense is built to exploit mismatches and they need to do that in a more aggressive way.
A lot more attacking off the dribble could really help their offense.
Rodney Hood was able to take advantage of Pachulia in a similar way.
The Jazz have to take advantage of these mismatches whenever the opportunity arises. These shots are also far less likely to lead to long rebounds in comparison to the contested jumpers that Hayward and others put up when they were in the same scenario.
This plan is way easier said than done. Utah definitely had a plan before tip-off, and then four minutes in they were down 9-0, and reeling. And with their lack of post-season experience they never truly recovered from that first haymaker.
Next: How did the San Antonio Spurs turn it around and blowout the Rockets in Game 2?
Hunt mismatches on offense, work the ball inside. Protect the ball, get back on defense. Hope the Warriors don’t start making 3-pointers. It’s not a great plan, but it’s about all there is.