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Recap
The Jazz were back home again in Utah, but they couldn’t keep pace with Indiana. The game was close for the first eight minutes or so, but then the wheels fell off. At the 2:40 mark, the Jazz trailed by six. By the end of the period, they were down ten, thanks to this prayer by Corey Joseph:
@Cory_Joe's buzzer beater from DEEP pic.twitter.com/6oRy2cY9fp
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) January 16, 2018
They kept up in the second quarter, but couldn’t keep up with Victor Oladipo, who continued to get pretty much whatever he wanted. Meanwhile, the Jazz couldn’t buy a bucket, especially from deep, (they went 9-33 on the night) and they found themselves down 11 at intermission.
After that, the Jazz had a very Jazzy third quarter, scoring 18 points to Indiana’s 27, and that was that. Victor Oladipo finished with 28 points on 9-16 shooting, Thaddeus Young chipped in 17 on 7-10 shooting, and the Jazz just couldn’t keep up.
The Jazz look beaten down. Disheartened. Almost like they know that the team, as it stands, won’t be together much longer. It’s tough to watch.
Game Notes
- Rodney Hood missed a 3-pointer late in the first quarter, and a few fans showed their displeasure. I wasn’t aware of it until I saw this tweet:
Tough loss tonight but we will bounce back.... Can’t believe people were booing Rodney tonight that is insane to boo a man who works his butt off everyday to become a better player and for people to boo him is INSANE He gives his all for us and we do the same for him! GOOD NIGHT!
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) January 16, 2018
Hood has been playing badly. He’s chucking up bad shots, not making good ones regularly, and just seems out of sync in general. Still, booing him, in my opinion, isn’t doing anyone any good. And now we have a ticked-off Donovan Mitchell. So good job, guys.
- Time will tell, but it seems that the Pacers may have won the trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oladipo and Sabonis are fun to watch.
- The Pacers shot about 58% from downtown. The Jazz shot 27%. Ouch.
- I mention this in every recap, so I’m gonna do it again. Ekpe Udoh finished at +15. Only three other Jazz players finished with a positive +/-: Alec Burks, (+6) Royce O’Neal, (+5) and Raul Neto (+4)
- Speaking of Neto, it was good to see him back. He played for 12 minutes, scored 5 points, dished out three assists, only turned the ball over once.
Next Up: The Jazz will travel to California for the pillow fight of the week: a matchup with the Sacramento Kings (#kangz) on January 17th.
Sometimes watching this team isn’t that fun, but that’s part of being a fan. Also, we have Donovan Mitchell. Be happy. GO JAZZ GO!