Summary: With the game tied going into the fourth quarter, the Jazz dominated the fourth and pulled away for a routine win over the Brooklyn Nets.
· Quin Snyder won his 100th game of his NBA career tonight, and his moves were a large part of it. Snyder decided to open the second half with Boris Diaw instead of Derrick Favors. That didn’t work because the Nets didn’t guard Boris and he didn’t knock down shots. Then, Quin went to Lyles as the four and that didn’t work either. Finally, he decided to go with Ingles/Johnson at the power forward along with Favors or Gobert at center, which changed the game for the Jazz.
· The Jazz put the defensive clamps down against the Nets in the second half. In the first half, the Jazz did a poor job containing the ball and stopping the quick penetration of the Nets. In the second half, they were vastly improved and that helped them control the game. It ended up being a very good defensive night for the Jazz.
· Hayward carried the Jazz through the third quarter, scoring 13 of the Jazz’s 20 points. The Jazz’s offense was brutal through portions of the third quarter; They couldn’t knock down shots and couldn’t get into any sets. Everything was dying late in the shot clock.
· Hood opened the fourth quarter with a scoring burst after starting the night 2 for 11. Mack also hit a few big shots in the fourth, mostly his right-handed floater on the right side of the floor. Hayward added a few to get himself another 30-point game.
· Hayward came out in the first quarter and was dominant, then took over the third and scored when he needed to in the fourth. He has passed 30 points five times this year and 18 times in his career.
· Trevor Booker played with a ton of energy tonight and was terrific for the Nets. He seems really happy about where he is. It was great to see Trevor before the game. He might be the most liked player in the league.
· Joe Ingles has done so much for this team. He has played point guard, has been a defensive stopper, and he was the power forward and grabbed nine rebounds tonight.
· The use of four different guys — and none of them being Derrick Favors — at the four in the second half shows the versatility that this roster has for Quin Snyder.
· Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 16 rebounds while holding Lopez to 14 — 7 points below his season average.
· I loved that Joe Johnson hit the three that clinched the game.
· Alec Burks returned for three minutes tonight. I’m not sure where his minutes come from. His only shot was a buzzer-beater attempt. He seemed to struggle a little containing the ball on the dribble.
· Jazz win their fourth in a row, and now the road trip starts to get really hard.