Jazz 104 – Rockets 83

It seems like Josh Howard doesn’t just play better when he starts; he has a completely different approach to the game. His body language is more intense, he dribbles off of his foot less frequently, and he attacks the basket at every opportunity. I’m not sure why this happens but it is probably why Ty Corbin is considering moving him with the first team full-time.

He ended up having a solid game, but that’s sure not where he was headed after the first few minutes. Good to see him bounce back after having to get benched early on for a soft start. Also worth noting: he only had 3 assists in the first 16 games of the season combined. This is a huge turn of events.

If you didn’t know, Al Jefferson takes a lot of shots. What was fantastic about his game tonight is that he also got shots for his teammates, doling out five assists- just one short of his career high. He also pulled it together later on after letting Luis Scola run wild early on.

Devin Harris was simply the best player on the floor tonight. He owned the tempo, he didn’t let Kyle Lowry make seven threes (not that he ever would… I mean, what?), he kept the Jazz in it early and led the Jazz to pull away when the rest of his teammates pulled it together. Plus, he was sick! This all happened within his 22 minutes on the floor! When he is playing well, I immediately remember why people have said that he’s one of the fastest players in the NBA. He just gets wherever he wants to go.

He absolutely locked down Kevin Martin while he was guarding him, which was huge early when the Jazz offense was struggling. On the other hand, the Jazz offensive struggles came in part because he was doing the whole Passive Gordon Hayward thing.

If I told you that a Jazz player put up 8 assists and 6 rebounds without scoring a point, wouldn’t you be at least 98% sure it was Earl Watson? After shooting 1-20 (5% from the field!) across the past four games, can we turn the Earl Watson Field Goal Watch into a legitimate thing at this point? The most fascinating part is that the rest of his game is holding up well despite his severe scoring fast. He just can’t find the bottom of the net.

Okay, he only played for three garbage minutes but he looked great! That stutter-step to get the layup at the end was sharp and the play before he came all the way across from the weak side to grab the offensive rebound. Another stint or two like this and #freeDeMarre will start popping up everywhere.

This is hard for me. C.J. Miles might have a different view on how to play basketball than most of the rest of us, but what bad is there to say tonight? His shots went in, and his percentage would have been even higher without a couple of buzzer-beating chucks. He looked like he was really having fun tonight, and I haven’t been able to say that about him for awhile.

It was Jeremy Evans Day, literally, so this one was pretty much a given. He actually earned an A+ with all his hustle. Two monster dunks and three blocks is everything I could ask for from a Jeremy Evans game; two assists on top of that is above and beyond.

Everyone is talking about his court vision and smooth passes in transition- and rightfully so- but how about his skill on the boards? He’s averaging about 6 rebounds per 36 minutes right now, and it is definitely not by coincidence. He is always making it as difficult as possible for his man to box him out and he reads the bounce beautifully.

Umm… Nice job on D?