Jazz Seal 96-89 Victory In Home Debut VS Lakers

via UtahJazz.com

The Jazz kicked off their 2016-2017 home season with a “Blue Out” game, inviting fans to don blue gear as the team itself debuted their blue, sleeved “Pride” jerseys. Fortunately for Utah, those weren’t the only debuts: Derrick Favors, after missing most of the preseason and Wednesday’s season opener, made his first appearance and reminded people how good he really is.

The Los Angeles Lakers were fresh off starting their post-Kobe Bryant era with a 120-114 win against the Houston Rockets. The Jazz saw in the Lakers’ energetic play on Friday that this is not the same 17-win team from last year.  But Favors and George Hill helped the Jazz get by these new-look Lakers, sealing the 96-89 victory and a 1-0 home record with 38 combined points.

This was an offensive duel early, with both teams shooting extremely well in the first quarter¹. Eventually the defenses kicked in and the teams settled into a close affair until the Jazz went on a 11-0 run starting with Rodney Hood’s free throws at the 7:39 mark in the 4th quarter.  The Jazz were able to clamp down on defense and force six straight Laker misses to take the lead, and then held on as Hill took control late. Just in the fourth quarter, Hill contributed ten points, an assist, a rebound, a block, and drew 3 fouls.

Quin Snyder decided to keep his starting unit the same: Hill and Hood, Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw and Rudy Gobert. Favors came off the bench and was under a minutes restriction that seemed to be hard capped at 20 minutes. Dante Exum was the first sub off the bench and got a big step up from his eight minutes in the opener to 22 on Friday. As the Lakers went small to finish — and with Favors at his 20 minutes — the Jazz closed the game with reserve guard Shelvin Mack playing in place of a second big man.

While it may not have been the blowout win some expected, the Jazz did what they needed to do as the better team.   Still without their leader, Gordon Hayward, and with a rusty Favors on a minute limit, they clawed their way to a win against a scrappy Lakers team.

Three  Takeaways

Derrick Favors is ready to take this team to another level.

1. Favors is one of top two players on this team. The moment he stepped onto the court he made an impact.  In the first four minutes of play the forward had four points, three rebounds, and block.  His final stat line 15 points, nine rebounds, an assist, two steals, and two block in just 20 minutes of play.  The emotion and intensity that he played with tonight was rarely seen last year and is something fans have clamored for.  If Favors brings this on a nightly basis he could take this team to another level when his conditioning is back up to his normal self

2. Is there anything George Hill can’t do?

Hill did a little of everything in this match-up, including leading the team in scoring and coming up with big defensive plays. Hood started hot too, making his first three jumpers, but then made just two of his next 11. Hill took over as the scoring force for the Jazz when Hood went cold.  The new Jazz point guard showed he can score in a variety of ways, including getting to the free throw line nine times — something that Jazz PGs have only accomplished nine times since Deron Williams left the team.  Hill also played fantastic defense on Lakers lotto pick D’Angelo Russell, forcing him into tough shots and 5/14 shooting. Or as our own Andy Larsen put it…

George Hill has been the Jazz’s best scorer and probably second-best defender tonight.

— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) October 29, 2016

3. Trey Lyles need to be ready to contribute right away

Boris Diaw is the perfect veteran to have on this team.  He is a wonderful leader and will provide fantastic depth. However, his scoring has been extremely limited in eight preseason and regular season Jazz games. Lyles may need to provide more of a scoring role as a backup big than many anticipated during preseason. Diaw has attempted a total of nine shots in the first two games, making one (11%).

Game MVP

George Hill: 23 points, three rebounds, three assists, a block, 7-14 from the field, 2-7 from three, 7-9 from the free throw line.

Play of the game

Favors Dunk

??????????#LALatUTA pic.twitter.com/hCOxLT4jJZ

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 29, 2016

Playoff seed impact of game result

This was as big win for the Jazz.  While it is not likely that the Lakers are one of the Western Conference playoff teams fighting for seeding against the Jazz, this game was still a crucial one.   The Jazz have a brutal stretch of games coming where nine of the next 13 are on the road, including three back-to-backs and nine against teams who were .500 or better last year.  Getting any wins now while Gordon Hayward is out will relieve pressure down the playoff stretch.

The forecasting gurus at FiveThirtyEight currently have the Jazz projected to win 50 games and win the 5th seed in the West.  Their models gave the Jazz an 89% pre-game win probability.  Before the game they had an 83% chance to make the playoffs, this win bumped them up to 86%.