The May 2nd Massacre: San Antonio 114, Utah 83

May 2nd, 2012 | by Jackson Rudd
Utah Jazz 83 Final
Recap | Box Score
114 San Antonio Spurs
Josh Howard, SF 24 MIN | 3-9 FG | 4-5 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS | -33

Josh Howard actually improved a lot from Game 1, and it wasn’t his fault that he was in the game for too many minutes. His defense wasn’t good, but whose was?

Paul Millsap, PF 29 MIN | 4-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 9 PTS | -35

Paul had a relatively passable offensive night, though his defense was subpar as well. The bigger problem is that this team desperately needed someone, anyone, to pull them together and Paul wasn’t that leader tonight.

Al Jefferson, C 30 MIN | 5-15 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 10 PTS | -38

No interior defense. No rebounding. No hustle. And all of his shots looked shaky. This is one that Al will want to forget. Soon.

Devin Harris, PG 23 MIN | 2-7 FG | 1-1 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 5 PTS | -36

Tony Parker 2, Devin Harris 0. He wasn’t playing with the swagger that keyed the Jazz’s late season run.

Gordon Hayward, SG 28 MIN | 3-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 4 AST | 8 PTS | -32

Gordon Hayward was the only one trying to get his team involved. The results obviously weren’t that moving, but at least he tried. His shot wasn’t falling, just like everyone else.

Jamaal Tinsley, PG 19 MIN | 1-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 0 REB | 3 AST | 4 PTS | +3

There wasn’t a lot of flair to his game. By the time he came in during the third quarter, the game was already out of hand and he played like he knew it.

Blake Ahearn, PG 6 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 5 PTS | +2

Responsible for the only three-point field goal all game. He was getting killed on defense by Gary Neal though.

DeMarre Carroll, F 18 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | +4

Carroll doesn’t know what his role is right now, which is fair, because neither do the rest of us. He didn’t give the energy burst that he’s known for, but he wasn’t notably worse than anyone else, either.

Jeremy Evans, SF 6 MIN | 0-1 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | +2

He showed some hustle and hit the boards hard in meaningless minutes.

Derrick Favors, FC 21 MIN | 3-9 FG | 3-3 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 9 PTS | +6

His +/- was +6 in a game the Jazz. Plus/minus differentials aren’t too incriminating, but in this case, that means that something went terribly wrong in the rotations.

Alec Burks, G 20 MIN | 2-8 FG | 5-5 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 9 PTS | +1

Burks is cocky, and he was the one playing with the most pride late in the game- he was trying to catch the Spurs playing sloppy and was still running the floor even in the last couple of minutes. He’s the only reason the deficit was less than 40.

Enes Kanter, F 16 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-1 FT | 10 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS | +1

Did anyone predict that ESPN’s box score would list Enes Kanter as Utah’s top performer in the second game of the playoffs? I don’t believe that anyone did. The most backhanded compliment I can offer to the Jazz as a whole is this: Kanter earned it.

Three Things We Saw

  1. I think everyone would have a better understanding of what happened tonight if the score read: Gregg Popovich 114, Ty Corbin 83. The shots weren’t going down, but if 20-0 runs are happening with no lineup changes, there is definitely a coaching mismatch. This playoff experience is more needed for Corbin than any of the young players.
  2. Interesting stat: the Jazz are known for fouling a lot, but they have gotten more free throws than the Spurs in both games so far. Apparently, fouling wasn’t the problem with Utah’s defense.
  3. Game 3 is Saturday and stands as Utah’s last chance to retain some dignity from this series. If they lose Saturday, even a Game 4 win wouldn’t convince anyone that this series was remotely competitive.

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