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Where to start? Well the Utah Jazz were facing a #7 seed locked Dallas Mavericks. Rick Carlisle didn't have much to play for and he sat Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, and Tyson Chandler (Chandler Parsons was already out with injury). Quin Snyder responded by sitting out Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Trey Burke (Alec Burks was already out too). That's pretty much where the similarities end. The Jazz looked in control of this game, even though the Mavs were close throughout and had the game tied 57 all at the half.
Rudy Gobert was dominant, and had 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks at HALF. Dallas didn't have any answer for him though Amar'e Stoudemire was scoring well, and Charlie Villanueva brought his Jazz-killer game to town. Al-Farouq Aminu and J.J. Barea showed up as well, but you can't win a game with just those guys. The Jazz, dealing with a lot of injuries all season long, proved you can win a game with a bunch of NBA-DL call ups and rookies.
Trevor Booker finished with 13 and 12, the lone "vet" playing tonight. Joe Ingles finished with 15 points and 3 assists. Rudy finished with 20 and 17, with 3 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal. Rodney Hood had an off shooting night, but it didn't matter with Chris Johnson coming off the bench to go 5/6 (and 3/3 from deep) on his way to 13 points. But what everyone is going to be talking about is Bryce Cotton. The Bryce is right! Ronnie Bryce. Whatever you want to call him you gotta love it.
He had 21 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and a three. He went 4/4 from the line and finished lots of highlight plays. No one could check him and he was doing damage out there with his dribble moves like a young Deron Williams. He also finished a huge break away jam with two hands, and knees near the rim. But this is what you want:
Wow!!!
So the Jazz won, which hurts their lotto standings, but we'll deal with that tomorrow. For now the Jazz won again on Fan Appreciation night, and finished the season 21-20 at home. It's a start. The team now has 38 wins on the season, +13 from last year. They play tomorrow night @ Houston Rockets for the last game of the season.
See you all here!