No Hayward, little Hood equals tough loss for Jazz


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Minnesota Timberwolves have had their struggles this season.

However, Monday may have been the pinnacle of the Timberwolves’ struggles as Minnesota dressed just seven players for the game.

Minnesota wasn’t the only team facing adversity though, as the Utah Jazz were without leading scorer Gordon Hayward.

Still, Minnesota overcame all the adversity, picking up a 106-104 short-handed overtime win over the Utah Jazz.

Without Hayward, Utah lost 19.6 points a game in scoring, and like it did in a narrow win over the New York Knicks earlier this month, the Jazz felt the impact of that. On top of that, Jazz guard Rodney Hood played limited minutes because of a stomach illness.

Losing two of the team’s top scorers over the last 10 games impacted the Jazz, and neither team was able to get much separation from the other. Utah led by as many as eight points,

Utah would hold a 92-87 lead in the fourth quarter, but Minnesota’s Zach LaVine went off, scoring seven points over the quarter’s final three minutes to force overtime.

Minnesota outscored Utah 10-8 in the overtime period, as the Jazz played their first overtime of the season.

#UJ

The Jazz struggled to gain consistency, offensively, throughout the night, but especially from beyond the paint. Utah made just 9-of-28 3-point attempts, and made just 19-of-31 free throws.

Jazz coach Quin Snyder said the loss of two top scorers affected the flow of the offense.

“Part of it for us is we’ve been with Gordon, so the adjustment for us is a major one — specifically when Rodney went out,” he said. “Rodney’s a guy that kind of replaces some of his scoring. … In this case, we were playing without Gordon, and clearly it had an impact.”

While the Jazz missed two of their top players, the Timberwolves missed most of their muscle. The minutes the players played was also of note, as Andrew Wiggins led the team with 48:48 of game time.

In Hayward’s absence, Derrick Favors led the Jazz, just as he did in the Knicks game. Favors finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Trey Burke was a source of criticism on social media, as he finished making 4-of-22 from the field, including 2-of-13 from behind the arc.

While Burke said he wasn’t fighting his offensive game, he also said he made poor choices late in the game.

“I feel like I kind of let my teammates down because I feel like I got some great looks,” he said. “I feel like I shot too many threes, we could have got the ball in the paint more. It would have opened more things up, and that starts with the point guard. I settled too much in the beginning in the game, shooting too many threes, and it kind of affected the field-goal percentage and how we shot as well.”

Snyder said Burke has earned the right over the course of the year to be a go-to scorer.

“He and (Favors) were the only options we’re going to play through, when the game gets close like that late,” he said. “He’s a guy that wants the ball. You end up with Trey being the guy who has made those shots previously. Even though he didn’t have a good night, he’s proven that, in situations like that, it’s hard to second-guess Trey.”

While some of the offensive struggles were at the forefront, Snyder attributed the loss to defense. Whether it was LaVine’s fourth-quarter heroics, or Wiggins’ strong play, he said Utah’s defensive focus wasn’t as strong as has become typical.

“We lost some of our discipline offensively as the game progressed,” said Snyder, attributing Minnesota’s 47.4 percent shooting, while making 12-of-19 3-pointers. “When the game was close, we got a little rattled on defense; we just weren’t as connected as we’ve been. Giving up as many point as we did in the fourth quarter; a lot of them were jump shots, but I thought a few of them could have been contested harder.”

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Jon Oglesby

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