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SALT LAKE CITY — Expectations for the Utah Jazz have dramatically risen over the past month.
However, the team is consistently presented with learning opportunities that can have a future effect on the roster. The Jazz have had one over the past couple weeks as the team has been forced to play without franchise players Gordon Hayward or Derrick Favors for stretches of time.
The team has had growing pains in those moments, going just 2-4 in those games. That made Favors' return to the lineup Wednesday all the sweeter as the Utah Jazz hosted the Denver Nuggets.
The combined forces of Hayward, Favors, Rudy Gobert and Dante Exum made the difference for the Jazz as Utah picked up a 98-84 win over the Nuggets.
Jazz coach Quin Snyder is happy to have Hayward and Favors healthy, but said the team learned some valuable lessons in their absences.
“It gives us an opportunity to look at our team,” he said. “When Gordon was out, it was hard for us to score and it took us a couple games to just get comfortable. With Derrick it was a little different; I don’t think we’d had a game without Derrick in like three years. It’s good for the rest of our team to see that.”
Utah struggled early in the game, getting outscored 29-22 in the first quarter after taking a 7-0 lead. However, the Jazz responded in the second quarter, going on a 32-20 run to take a 54-42 halftime lead.
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Favors finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in his return from back spasms. The only thing that limited his effectiveness was three early fouls, which caused him to sit on the bench for significant portions of the first half.
Snyder said Favors makes a big difference in how a game is played.
“He’s such a good finisher; when you get the ball around the rim, he usually gets something out of it,” he said. “Defensively, he makes so many plays; it’s not just protecting the rim, it’s playing pick-and-roll defense, it’s protecting the rim, it’s the defensive rebounding. It’s more about his versatility and his ability to make lots of different types of plays.”
The forward said his performance was a good first game back, in spite of the fouls.
“I just wanted to get myself going, just being aggressive to try myself back into a groove,” he said. “It’s tough to pick up the early fouls because you’ve got to sit on the bench for a while. It kind of gets you out of rhythm; it kind of gets you cold a little bit. But you’ve just got to find ways to get yourself going.”
Gobert finished with a career-high 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The Frenchman said his 7-for-7 shooting performance came from getting the ball in good positions.
“I think we moved the ball pretty well, and I had a lot of easy passes from my teammates,” he said. “I just like to finish at the rim, and hit my free throws — for my teammates.”
Another player who had a highlight game was rookie guard Dante Exum. Exum finished with a career-high 12 assists — the new season-high for the Jazz.
Snyder said Exum is beginning to understand the game more
“I wasn’t surprised as much as I was pleased (with Exum) because we’ve seen flashes like that,” he said. “He’s such a conscientious kid, he doesn’t want to make a mistake sometimes. There were some plays tonight that he’s seen before; he just hasn’t made the play. Tonight, the game slowed down a little more.”
Exum said his teammates finished the plays he set up.
“(I had) the mindset to get into the paint and making the right read and slowing the game down,” he said. “Teammates had on-balls for me to get into the paint, and (Denver) was kind of sagging off and things were kind of sagging off.”
The only downside of the night proved to be a positive for the Jazz as struggles late in the game provided this season’s most valuable moment — a learning situation for the team. The Nuggets outscored Utah 25-17 in the fourth quarter, including one stretch that caused Snyder to call a timeout.
Snyder said those are the types of teaching moments a coach can take advantage of, especially in a season that’s all about learning.
“As much as anything, the last six minutes of the game, there’s a tendency when you’re ahead to let up a little bit,” he said. “They started to press and trap, and I didn’t think we handled it as well as we could have. A 20-point lead with six minutes to go in an NBA game; people lose those all the time. It’s not that rare that happens, so I think we needed to be conscious of playing the right way and playing well.”
