Final Score: Milwaukee Bucks 86 at Utah Jazz 100 -- Game Recap

NBA Regular Season 2012-2013, Game 50:

Milwaukee Bucks 86 @ Utah Jazz 100

#MILatUTA Game Stream -- Brew Hoop (SB Nation) -- Bucks vs Jazz coverage

Time to bring back Raja Bell for one more game . . .

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The Basics:

The Utah Jazz prevailed tonight in a game against the Bucks, who had played last night in Denver. The well rested Jazz looked more active all game long, while some of Milwaukee's players looked beat and tired -- missing jumper after jumper, and free throw after free throw. The legs go first and the main culprits were Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis. Their high octane attack isn't suited for the mountain regions . . . they scored 104 (in a loss) against the Nuggets but gave up 112. Tonight? A 14 point loss. Perhaps the main factor in all of this was the absence of Larry Sanders -- the talented, young, defensive big.

With no Sanders I suggested that the Jazz needed to go to the glass. Milwaukee was in the Bottom 5 in taking care of their glass, and we are on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to getting offensive rebounds. Milwaukee only managed 28 defensive rebounds tonight, and the Jazz had 17 offensive rebounds. That means the Jazz got 38% of their misses back. Al Jefferson had 6 offensive rebounds, finished with 11 in total, and had 19 points. Enes Kanter had 5 offensive rebounds, finished with 9, and had 17 points. The Big Man show did not end there, Paul Millsap had 19 points and 6 rebounds, and Derrick Favors had 9 points and 11 rebounds.

As a whole, the foursome finished with 64 points, 37 rebounds, 12 assists, and 12 blocks. When you're missing Mo Williams, Gordon Hayward, and Earl Watson you need your bigs to dominate. That is precisely what happened tonight. Samuel Dalembert tried his best and had a double double with 4 blocks, but he can't do it alone.

Beyond a return to a big dominated game, this was a 'normal' Jazz home game. Starters start slowly, we're down early, bench comes in to bring us back, Ty plays starters almost all of the third quarter -- and the Jazz hold on to win. I've written that game recap like 18 times this season already.

The story of the game was Enes Kanter though, with his 17 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 assist line -- finishing 7/9 from the field and 3/3 from the line -- all in 17 minutes. That's brilliant and honestly he deserves to play more going forward. That's the case for Derrick Favors too, who only played 22 minutes tonight -- which is identical to his MPG as a rookie. This was a good night to have quality depth up front though, particularly when what few guards we had remaining did not have their best games.

Well, Randy Foye scored 12 points off of 12 shots, and added 1 assist. Jamaal Tinsley had 2 points and 5 assists, but was a defensive liability. Alec Burks played 29 minutes tonight, was +14 in +/-, finished with 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. He also added 1 steal and 2 threes.

It's important to secure these wins, and we did this as a team. Old and young. Big and small. Starter and bench player. The team needs these games so we can make the playoffs -- and they aren't going to be easier to get this month. Down three rotation guards this is the type of win that is a blessing.

Keep it up guys!