1) The Jazz played fairly well against the Magic. There a lot of turnover, but Utah had energy and effort. The Magic simply could not miss in the second quarter and most of the third quarter. When the Jazz made their comeback and started sinking shots, the reaction was "finally," or something similar.
The comeback against the Heat was the return-from-the-dead type. Utah spent the better part of three quarters getting hammered. They worked their way back into the game by chipping away at the lead.
2) The comebacks were different. The Jazz were all but completely dead in Miami, and they slowly dug their way out of their own grave, kind of like this:
In Orlando, the Jazz made up ground quickly with a 24-2 run at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter.
3) Whereas the Miami comeback was mostly due to Paul Millsap and Deron Williams, the Orlando revival was a team creation. Yes, Williams could not miss, but Kyrylo Fesenko, Millsap, Al Jefferson, Roger Bell and Andrei Kirilenko all made important contributions.
* * * * *
Yeah, that's right, Florida.
I'm too nervous to draw any conclusions from this road trip so far. Especially because tonight's game against the Bobcats is the ultimate trap game, and could cast a cloud over the three wins so far.
ReplyDeleteHowever, some of the things that seem to be going on are encouraging. Instead of being the team who chokes at the end of a competitive game, the Jazz are coming up big. Particularly, their ability to hit clutch free throws has been a major change from past years (it has helped that their last two opponents have struggled from the line too).
Those first two games of the season feel like they never happened.
While I refuse to complain, it would be nice if the Jazz could have a nice start to a game too.
ReplyDeleteThe question: can the slow starts be blamed on offense or defense?
Nasty run by the Jazz, man.
ReplyDeleteDWil showed us all why he's the best PG in the league.
http://sportschump.net/2010/11/18/hail-or-rail-scale-part-ii-leron-mcclain-erik-spoelstra-antonio-margarito-cecil-newton-lakers-jazz-steve-spurrier-and-kevin-love/5020/