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MINNEAPOLIS — Last week, the Utah Jazz suffered a 106-104 overtime loss at home to a Minnesota Timberwolves team with seven active players.
This week, it was a completely different story. Utah outscored the Timberwolves early and often, dominating Minnesota 104-84 in the win.
Minnesota was short-handed once again as the team dressed just eight players for the game. However, the Jazz took advantage of it this time, outscoring the Timberwolves 31-17 in the third quarter to put the game well out of reach.
Utah won its second consecutive game without Derrick Favors, who is expected to play on Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets. With the win, the Jazz have a record of 3-12 with Favors out of the lineup.
Besides the dominating win, a few notes stood out in the Jazz victory.
All season, the key for a Utah victory has been pounding the boards and pounding the paint. When the team does that, its chances for victory are fairly high, and Monday’s win over Minnesota was no exception. The Jazz outrebounded the Timberwolves 47-34 and held a 42-32 advantage in the paint — all without Favors.
Rudy Gobert played a big part in that success, finishing with 15 points and 12 rebounds. However, Trevor Booker, who started for Favors, finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds as well.
Over the past several weeks, free-throw shooting has plagued the Jazz at times, but Utah has improved over the past two games. Against the Timberwolves, the Jazz made 16-of-18 free throws, shooting a cool 88.9 percent as a team. Gobert made 7-of-9 free throws, which is a promising trend.
Not to compare Gobert to an NBA Hall-of-Famer, but the greatness of Karl Malone came from his ability to make free throws. When a team can’t keep a player from scoring, and can’t foul them, it affects an entire defensive game plan, and if Gobert can become even a 70 percent shooter from the line, it will dramatically change how teams can defend him.
In Utah’s defense, one of its best perimeter defenders (Hayward) missed last week’s overtime loss to Minnesota. In that game, the Timberwolves made 12-of-19 shots from distance, with Zach LaVine making 5-of-6. The Timberwolves also shot 47.4 percent from the field.
Monday, Minnesota shot just 36.8 percent from the floor, and made only 6-of-16 3-point shots. Also, LaVine was just 1-for-6 from distance.
