Rudy Gobert and the Jazz easily dismiss Patrick Beverley, Anthony Edwards and the lowly Wolves

The last time Patrick Beverley and Anthony Edwards faced Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz they were beaten by 32. They had a lot of things to say about Gobert and his defense that night. Tonight was their chance to back up their big words, they lost again 120-108.

Gobert was dominated them again scoring 14 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and blocking 4 shots. This absolutely delicious block on Patrick Beverley sealed the deal.

I am now pregnant.

Gobert also was instrumental after Hassan Whiteside left the game because of a collision with Jordan Clarkson that took him out of the game with concussion symptoms. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious for Whiteside. That said, with Whiteside out Gobert carried the load the rest of the way and controlled everything on the defensive end.

But it wasn’t just Rudy Gobert making Patrick Beverley look silly, Donovan Mitchell had his way with him as well. Mitchell scored 39 points on 12/21 shooting and shot 6/11 from three. Absolutely scorching numbers on the pathetic on-ball defense from Patrick Beverley. Just to be clear that’s 57% from the field and 54% from three. Oh, he also took 10 free throws. For those without their wristwatch calculators, that’s 90%. He also grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. Mitchell was absolutely superb in every facet of the game. He found open teammates and made the right reads all night. The sky is the limit for the superstar guard.

The Jazz’s second unit really struggled once Hassan Whiteside left because of concussion protocols. It forced the Jazz into a 5-out lineup that didn’t work well. This was mostly because instead of putting the ball in their superstar’s hands, we saw Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gay go iso. It’s clear the Jazz aren’t practicing that 5-out lineup enough and we’re likely not seeing that in any sort of playoff scenario if this game is any indication. That said, Rudy Gay was an instrumental part of this win. For the game, he was a team-leading +26. His defense is palpable at times and really gives the Jazz another solid player on team defensive schemes as well as another strong option on the offensive end. He continues to be a strong pickup for the Jazz.

Bojan Bogdanovic had a strong shooting night for the Jazz. He was 6/14 from the field for 42% and 3/6 from 3. He also had a really nice rebounding night with 12 rebounds. The thing that always seems to pop up with Bogdanovic is the turnovers. For the game, Bogdanovic had 5 turnovers with 2 assists. A 2/5 turnover ratio is really tough and makes you wonder why he’s ever put into a single isolation situation.

There were some interesting wrinkles to this game that deserve some attention. With Mike Conley and Joe Ingles out, Quin Snyder decided to start Trent Forrest. It’s clear that Snyder has an unwavering belief that Forrest is the best option at that third guard spot. Forrest is a solid defender, a good ball handler and he’s a forceful athlete. He also can’t shoot the ball and it allows the opposing team to sag off on defense. It also makes Jazz players second guess whether to pass him the ball. Multiple times Jazz players looked him off for other shots and it was part of the reason the Jazz offense struggled with him on the floor. For the game, he was a team-low -15. Because both Conley and Ingles were out, Snyder begrudgingly had to play Jared Butler and had him in the patented “sit in the corner and don’t get in the way” role. Butler did the best with what he was given and was 1/1 from 3 and 1/2 from the field with a steal. A nice showing for the rookie getting his first real minutes since early in the year. Quin’s rigidness to make adjustments to the lineup might be tested in the future, but for now, it’s clear Forrest has that #3 guard spot locked up. But as time goes on, and if the trade deadline gets interesting, we’ll see if that changes. Danny Ainge may be the one that makes that decision.