It wasn’t the Utah Jazz’s problem that the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers were missing star power forward Anthony Davis or starting point guard Dennis Schroder.
Utah’s job was to win, and if anything, they proved that the Lakers with only LeBron James won’t be enough to beat the Jazz. The evidence came in the form of a 114-89 blowout home win for the Jazz on Wednesday.
“We just want to continue to keep the same mindset and focus as if they were out there. At the end of the day, everybody’s coming for us,” said Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell. “I think the best thing about this game was we continued to keep our foot on the gas every step of the way. There wasn’t a moment in the game where we played like we were up.”
The Jazz sport an NBA-best mark of 26-6, and Quin Snyder is therefore one of two All-Star Game coaches.
All of it has been the result of togetherness and determination. The Jazz don’t have a super-duper star, but they do have unity and a belief, and so far, it’s worked wonders.
They also have the benefit of a highly underrated, veteran point guard in Mike Conley Jr. A member of winning teams with the Memphis Grizzlies, Conley has brought a dose of unselfishness and know-how to Utah when healthy.
“Regardless of who we’re facing, or who’s playing, who’s not playing, we want to make sure that we come in every single night with the mindset of defending,” said center Rudy Gobert. “We [also] did a great job sharing the ball offensively. And when we defend, and we share the ball, it’s hard to beat us.”
More from Utah
- Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer broke down the Jazz’s success, showing how they have built an “unstoppable regular-season machine.” It’s just part of the national media finally taking notice. A win over the Lakers (even shorthanded) will do that for a team.
- The news may only get worse for opponents hoping to overtake the Jazz for the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs. As noted by Ryan Miller of KSL.com, the Jazz have the easiest remaining schedule of anyone.
- Jazz vice-president Dennis Lindsey has strongly denied making bigoted remarks during an exit interview with Elijah Millsap. The former Jazz forward sent out a series of tweets accusing Lindsey of making the remarks “in my exit interview while conversing with Q. Snyder ‘if you say one more word, I’ll cut your Black ass and send you back to Louisiana.'”
- Check out the FortyEightMinutes Jazz page for more coverage, including occasional recaps/breakdowns from Jordan Foote.
