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Thursday, January 6, 2022

Five Things: Small Ball Finds Success - UtahJazz.com

Playing extremely shorthanded against the reigning MVP on Wednesday, the Utah Jazz knew it would be an uphill climb if they wanted to extend their road winning streak 10 games.

Making matters even worse, the all-star backcourt of Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell struggled to find their shooting touch throughout much of the game. 

In the end, it didn't matter because Bojan Bogdanovic and others stepped up to overcome Nikola Jokic's triple-double, leading Utah to a 115-109 victory over Denver in a battle of the Mountain West. 

"It feels like the biggest win right at this moment," head coach Quin Snyder said postgame. "I think it's certainly the most unique game that we've won this year."

Here are five things to know following the win:

1.) Bojan Bogdanovic Steps Up
When it was announced pregame that Rudy Gobert, Hassan Whiteside, and Joe Ingles were going to miss Wednesday's contest against the Nuggets, it was assumed that the Jazz were going to need monster nights from Conley and Mitchell to go toe-to-toe with Jokic. 

While the all-star backcourt didn't put up eye-popping numbers, they more than did their job of controlling the pace of the offense and making like difficult for Denver's guards on the other end of the court. 

But with those two not putting up the points, it meant that someone would have to. 

Enter Bogdanovic!

The forward dropped a season-high 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor. He was incredibly effective from all three scoring levels, going 90's on the Nuggets with an array of midrange jumpers rarely seen in today's game. He also did an excellent job of constantly attacking the rim, resulting in an 11-for-13 showing from the free throw line.

But where he made his mark came on the defensive end of the court by helping make up for the loss of Gobert and his NBA-leading 15.1 rebounds per game. Bogdanovic grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, all of which came on the defensive end — he added four assists.

"I'm just trying to be aggressive," Bogdanovic said. "Mike and Donovan are looking for me because they can feel it that I'm in good shape. I just feel great and am just doing whatever it takes to be aggressive and win the game."

2.) Royce O'Neale Impresses At "Center"
With Utah leading late in the game and a lot of the damage coming at the hands of Rudy Gay in a small-ball lineup, Denver elected to change up the strategy. 

Knowing the Jazz were putting Jokic in the pick-and-roll to expose mismatches, the Nuggets decided to put Jokic on O'Neale, essentially forcing Utah to put the ball in O'Neale's hands late in the game to see if he could make the right play. 

It turns out that O'Neale was more than up to the challenge. He scored five points, grabbed two rebounds, and dished out one assist in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.

But most impressively, he constantly made the correct play over and over again, whether it was attacking the rim in the pick-and-roll or kicking out to an open shooter and exploring the Nuggets on defense. And he did it all without a single turnover.

For having never really been in that role before, O'Neale looked comfortable with the ball in his hands and decisions to make. 

3.) No Turnovers, No Problems
On a night with so much disarray right before tipoff — Snyder even said they didn't have their starting lineup decided just 90 minutes before game time — it would make sense if the Jazz came out frazzled.

Knowing that each player on the roster would have to elevate their games, it would've made sense if turnovers were aplenty before settling in and finding a rhythm.

That never happened. 

The Jazz came out looked comfortable immediately as Conley got things started with a three-pointer and an alley-oop dunk to Udoka Azubuike. That calmness stayed throughout the game as Utah committed just seven turnovers on the night. 

"We did a great job. … We controlled the boards, and we controlled our turnovers," Bogdanovic said. "I think that is probably the fewest turnovers that we've had the whole season, we had less than 10. So just taking care of the ball and a lot of 50-50 balls that were around the floor they were all ours. … I think that was big tonight."

Considering how many players saw extended roles and how many different lineups played together that weren't used to it, it was an impressive showing from a veteran squad getting the job done in a hostile environment. 

4.) Udoka Azubuike Rises To Occasion 
A little over a month ago, Azubuike suffered a subluxation of his right ankle, the same ankle which had him sidelined for months last season with the same injury. 

For one month, he intensely rehabbed the ankle, finally taking part in full contact five-on-five drills on Tuesday for the first time. So when an assistant coach approached him and told him that he would be starting against Denver on Wednesday night, Azubuike assumed the coach was just joking around. 

"I'm not gonna lie to you, I was a little nervous," Azubuike said. "Just coming back from injury, and you get to play the Joker, the MVP."

With no Gobert and no Whiteside, it meant that Azubuike would take on the task of not just starting but defending the reigning MVP in Jokic, a player who is statistically better than last season. Azubuike finished with five points, one rebound, and one block in 16 minutes, holding his own on the court. 

He started the game by winning the opening tip, scored an alley-top dunk a few possessions later, and then had a big block of Jokic in the second half. He provided massive minutes for Snyder and the Jazz, which played a significant role in winning. 

"For him to come in and his first NBA start to play against arguably the best player in the world right now, I thought the minutes that he gave us were just really important minutes. … Particularly at the beginning of the game," Snyder said of Azubuike.

5.) Small-Ball Lineup Finds Success
When the Jazz had gone small on the court in the past, the results haven't been the most positive. Often, the team struggled to communicate, and everyone appeared to be walking on glass a bit, not wanting to make a mistake rather than just playing the game they all know how to play.

Wednesday night, that small-ball lineup looked completely opposite. The lineup was able to close out the game for the win by exposing Jokic in the pick-and-roll and being aggressive on both ends of the court. 

How did it happen?

For one thing, Utah did a much better job of on-ball pressure, led in large part by the efforts of Conley and Mitchell. With them hounding the ball handlers, it made life difficult to get the ball to Jokic in the post. 

The Jazz also did a great job of communicating and rotating with help-side defense, repeatedly forcing the Nuggets into contested shots. 

Offensively, the Jazz did an excellent job of constantly being in attack mode by picking on the mismatches with the Nuggets. 

Rudy Gay was the primary benefactor, proving too athletic when defended by Jokic and too big when smaller guards tried to defend him. He finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and a game-high +14 rating.

Finding small ball success against Jokic and the Nuggets is a good sign for the Jazz moving forward. 

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Five Things: Small Ball Finds Success - UtahJazz.com
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