:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/52038215/CJ2YlbcUcAA1463.0.png)
George Hill had 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, Gordon Hayward chipped in 24/5/2 and Rudy Gobert anchored the defense in what was a solid win for an almost injury-free Jazz squad under the circumstances. It was a back-and-forth affair for much of the game, and although the Jazz were ahead more often than not, the Peskies hung around behind Karl-Anthony Towns' 19/12/1. In the end, the good guys pulled it out and Coach Tom Thibodeau ground his starters into the dust, as he has done more often than not up to this point, playing Zach LaVine a whopping 44 minutes and getting an anemic performance from his bench.
Key Stat:
Wolves: Bench Points
The Wolves' bench mob scored 21 points, or an average of 5.25 points per quarter. They were completely embarassed by the superior 2nd unit of the Jazz, posting an average +/- rating of -5. It's hard to stay in the game when you're getting nothing from the bench.
Jazz: REB%
The Jazz won the battle on the glass, posting a 75.0 DREB% and a 29.3 OREB% to Minny's 70.7/25.0. The bigger story here, though, was Rudy Gobert (#salute). Rudy was an absolute beast on the boards tonight, grabbing 27.6% of all offensive rebounds available to him and 33.3% of all defensive rebounds. That is in-SANE.
Picard Awards:
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7549941/1407611779_0.jpg)
Wolves: Andrew Wiggins
In 34 minutes of work, Wiggins went 6-16, with a couple of those buckets coming in garbage time, posting a lackluster line of 13/2/4 with a +/- rating of -3. The Peskies could have used more production from him.
Runner-up: Ricky Rubio.
Jazz: Joe Johnson
It seemed like Joe of the Johnson variety brought some importznt intangibles to the game, and he did make some big buckets down the stretch, but he put up a disappointing 4/0/0 with two turnovers. Yawn.
Runner-up: Quin Snyder. Can someone tell me why our developing number-5-draft-pick PG got a DNP-CD against a struggling team? Does Quin think we traded Exum and Trey Burke is still here or something?
Final Thoughts:
Consistency won the night for the Jazz. They put in a steady, consistent effort for 48 minutes and didn't panic when the Wolves made runs. They had the clear depth advantage, and outplayed Minnesota on both sides of the ball. When you do that, you win. Tomorrow night will certainly test our guys' mettle, as they'll be flying back home to play a decent Rockets squad headlined by one James Harden