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Klay Thompson goes for 52, and Utah Jazz players react - The Downbeat #1532

Can the Utah Jazz win three in a row? They should. And have a chance to do it now...How did our players react to Klay Thompson's 52...Is 8 still > than 3?...The change in the offense....and Dream Jazz vacation

By AllThatAmar
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Okay, the Utah Jazz won against the Milwaukee Bucks, and need to keep the ball rolling in the right direction. Today they will host the Brooklyn Nets (18-25, but 2-8 in the last 10), then have a night off, and then host the Boston Celtics (15-26, 4-6 in the last 10) on Monday. The last two games of this month are against the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. So, well, the time is NOW to put a good stamp on January -- and possibly get a three game win streak. The Jazz, so far in the 2014-15 season, do not have that yet.

I'd like to see it happen with these next two games.

Of course, there are plenty of sub-plots for these two games.

  • Nets: The Jazz traded their last All-Star / All-NBA / Team USA player (Deron Williams) to the Nets back in 2010, and got back the parts needed for Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Trey Burke (well, half the parts), and vetz. Deron has a fractured rib cartilage, and he will be out. Derrick Favors (personal issue) may be out as well. We don't know. The Nets still do have an interesting mix of players, with Joe Johnson, Kevin Garnett, Mason Plumlee, Jarrett Jack, Brook Lopez, and company. Also, the Nets got blasted in their last game (123-84) and may want to come out and appear a little more competitive this time around. Furthermore, they just found out that their draft and stash prospect Mirza Teletovic -- who was having a solid season this year -- is out because they discovered bilateral pulmonary embolism. That sucks. NetsDaily has him out for the year.
  • Celtics: The Jazz and Celtics finished last season with 25 wins (the Jazz won their last game in double overtime on the road, and the C's lost their last two -- including a loss to Philly), but their draft order was determined by a coin flip. The Jazz picked #5, and took 18 year old point guard prospect Dante Exum. The Celtics, picking #6, took 20 year old OK State point guard Marcus Smart. Smart may not have all of his screws, but he is a physical player, solid defender, and playing more and more minutes after the departure of Rajon Rondo. How these two cats match up will be interesting. Dante is coming off of his best (scoring) game of his career, and Smart has a huge chip on his shoulder (I don't know why -- he plays in a bigger market and is better right now?). It will be fun.

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I can't go any further without at least mentioning the Golden State Warriors and Klay Thompson. Years ago I proposed that the Jazz would pick him at #12, they didn't get the chance as he was picked #11 back in 2011. Predraft some Jazz fans did not want him because of his recreational habits. That's cool. Well, he just dropped 52 points last night, and also added 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. He made 11 of 15 threes. And really stepped up when Stephen Curry was having a poor shooting night (3/11). How ridiculous was his night (or just his 30+ point third quarter)? Everyone in the NBA was buzzing about it. Here are just some of the tweets from the Jazz family:

Jarron Collins is an Ast. Coach with the Warriors this season. Probably the most interesting contest was between who would finish with a higher score, Klay, or what Mo Williams did a few games ago.

Mo felt like he would be passed, but they both finished with #52, so that is good for the Mo fans out there. (And sadly, despite everything, I still kinda am.) In somewhat related news (as GSW played SAC last night), the Sacramento Kings are now 5-14 under Tyrone Corbin, after starting the season 11-13. As always, Sactown Royalty game threads and comment sections are now required reading if you are into that type of thing.

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The 8 > 3 thing brings me back, so go ahead and read Basketball John 's Downbeat again. It was awesome. But it got me thinking . . . which team would win in a 3 on 3 contest? The Jazz threes, or Jazz eights?

Sure, there are other players out there that existed, but I'm not going to bother you with a hypothetical situation that asks you to figure out where Jason Hart or Walt Bellamy fit in. (Walt played 14 total minutes for the New Orleans Jazz back in 1974-75.) If we're going by just their Jazz playing days then it's clear no one is stopping Deron Williams. Unless you put B-Russ on him or something, and switched Trey to Randy . . . I don't know. This would be a fun match to watch for sure as Josh Howard shootings Team D-Will out of it . . .

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What do you think of the Utah Jazz offense so far this season? What does the eye-ball test tell you? How does it compare to previous seasons of the Jazz offense?

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - OVERALL

Will playing a Spurs like game be something you are okay with in the long run?

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It's 2:50 am when I'm writing this and I have a plane to catch in a few hours. So . . . if you could go anywhere in the world -- with a Utah Jazz player -- where would it be, and with whom? (And no, you all can't say "Andrei Kirilenko 's wild pig island" either!)

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