Utah Jazz 84, Washington Wizards 88: Not so much a game as a wrestling match, really

This is the first game in a long time that I'm not sure exactly what to write.

To me, this game was simple: two teams played their guts out, scrapped and scraped and bonked and conked everything they could defensively ... and in the end, one team was able to make a couple more shots than the other. If these two teams played each other with this kind of intensity 100 times, I think that the wins would be evenly split, and nobody would ever win by more than 8.

There's so much to look back and think: "If only ..."

• If only we made FT's (12-24 ... ugh)
• If only Gordo didn't toss up the three but the team went for a tie
• If only John Wall wasn't fast
• If only Hayward could have gotten a couple more calls when his head was nearly removed
• If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs ...

Early in the game the Jazz looked to be getting off to another great start ... until the Wiz hit a few 3's. And in the third, the Jazz had a mini-surge that gave them a lead. But it evaporated, again, behind some Wizzy 3's.

As far as stat lines go:

• Hayward had 26-4-4 and a steal
• Favors gave 16-9-1 and 3 blocks
• Gobert added 9-14-4 (as in assists), a steal, and two blocks
• Trey had a strong game with 15points, 6 assists, and 2 steals

But that was mostly it.

* * *

It was a fantastic game, in my opinion. And though they came up short, I'm hopeful that they will learn how to make these close games more and more likely to turn out the way they want ... with a win.

Yucca Out.