NBA games of the week: The Not All-Stars
By Chazz Scogna
Wednesday, Feb. 14: Phoenix at Utah, 9:00 p.m. ET
Judge it for yourself. Is this technically cheating? Neither team has an All-Star, but Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell are participating in the 3-point contest and the dunk contest, respectively. Each has a decent chance to win, especially Mitchell.
This year, the Slam Dunk Contest has gone heavy on the young guards. Victor Oladipo, Dennis Smith Jr. and Mitchell are all point guards. The lone big man, Larry Nance Jr. will inevitably represent the power dunkers of large humans.
As for the team Mitchell plays for, they’ve been rolling since the return of defensive stalwart and franchise player Rudy Gobert. Since the French Rejection’s return from a knee injury, the Jazz are 9-2 in their last 11, including a streak of eight straight. The Jazz are only two games out of the final playoff spot in the West. They swapped Rodney Hood for Jae Crowder in hopes the latter will add some the toughness Hood lacked — he attempted few free throws for a player who attempts that many shots and had a tendency to shy away from contact.
Still, not too bad for a team who lost its best player to free agency, missed Gobert for multiple stretches and whose leading scorer is a 21-year-old rookie.
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The team they’ll face, the Suns, have added the aforementioned Payton. Though the Magic couldn’t find much use for Payton, Phoenix has a need for point guard — both Tyler Ulis and Booker are sealing with injuries.
Payton’s ability to initiate offense and handle the ball takes some burden off Booker’s shoulders when he returns.