The Utah Jazz broke the streak, and prevented the Los Angeles Clippers from getting their 14th straight win in the head-to-head match-up. The Jazz won 102-91, and really pulled away in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Particularly in the 4th where the team defense went into lockdown mode and prevented anyone (not named Blake Griffin) from getting anything. Gordon Hayward finally had one of those games where he looks not just like the best player on the team, but also our leader and max contract guy. Hayward finished with 33 points off of only 22 shots (going 5/7 from deep and 6/8 from the stripe helps), and added 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and was a whopping +22 in +/-. On a night where the bench didn't do much (Trey Burke left the game with an injury after 8 minutes of action, Alec Burks and Trevor Booker went a combined 4/19) it's nice to know that each of the Jazz starters *can* actually score double digit points.
Derrick Favors played terrific defense, as much as it can be said when their starting PF goes for 40 points, and finished with 22 points of his own, with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals to boot. He also shot 67 FG%, not shabby. Rudy Gobert finally had one of those double double things that usually eludes him finishing with 10 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He made all of his shots from the field, but split 4 free throws during the game. The Jazz starting backcourt of Rodney Hood and Raul Neto were very good, combining for 23 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, and got to the line 8 times, making 6. Trey Lyles did go 2/2 in 3 minutes, Chris Johnson had 2 blocks, and one of Alec Burks' 6 rebounds came at an important time in the 4th quarter.
With this win the Jazz and Clips flip flop in the standings. I am not going to get too hyped about this win. It cheapens the Jazz history to get too happy about beating the Clippers in their own gym. The high standards of watching this team destroy the Clippers for decades is one we should aspire to. The Jazz defense did destroy them, the Clippers barely broke 90 points on a garbage time three pointer by a forgettable bench player.
After Turkey day the Jazz get back to it, hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.