*** Nothing about this game changes anything about how you feel about the Jazz and what is going on with this team. The Wizards are really good and the Jazz struggled the whole night and still had a chance to win the game or at least take the lead in the final seconds.
*** This was a tough night and the Jazz fought the whole night. Things were never easy. Washington matched up well against the Jazz. The offense wasn’t flowing. The shots weren’t dropping. With all of that the Jazz stayed in the game for the full 48 minutes against a very good team.
*** The Wizards starting 5 is one of the best 5 man line-ups in the NBA. It has everything, veterans, floor spacers and big bigs down low. The front court of Nene and Gorat is the first big time dual front court the Jazz have faced since the all-star break and it was a hard match-up for Favors and Gobert.
*** Nene is a terrific player. He is always in the right place. He impacts plays with fundamental defense and Gortat is a beast. He is one of the most physical players in the game. They didn’t allow Gobert and Favors to have easy rebounds on the offensive end or free plays to the basket. Yet, both had 5 offensive rebounds. The Wizards are the #3 defensive rebounding team in the NBA and the Jazz still got 14 of 49 misses. The Jazz were able to grabbed boards against both the Hornets, #1 in the NBA and the Wizards, #3 in the NBA.
*** The jazz offense couldn’t get a flow tonight. The Wizards jammed the wing passes and overplayed the offense and the Jazz had a hard time countering. Instead, the Jazz got stuck on one side of the floor for most of the night.
*** The Jazz rookie guards, Exum and Hood, had a hard time with Wall and Beal and their defensive impact. Wall got into Exum and knocked him off his game. Exum is much more comfortable with his right hand then his left and Wall used that to cause Exum some real problems. As the night went on Hood got more comfortable.
*** Rodney Hood had a great play where he got into the lane maintained his dribble, held his ground, basically came to a stop for a few bounces and then held the defender on his hip and took the shot. It is a Harden play. It takes great skill and strength and Hood pulled it off. Hayward did it later in the game as well.
*** Joe Ingles in bound pass to Gordon Hayward for a dunk was a busted play. They top blocked Hayward who was supposed to come to the ball and Ingles and Hayward reacted perfectly and pulled off an incredible play at the rim. The pass was great.
*** Hayward continues to drive into spaces that don’t seem to exist. Tonight the Wizards collapsed on him with regularity showing him three bodies at a time and he was still relentless to the basket. He finished with 26 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. This is becoming commonplace since Feb 1st.
*** John Wall is big time. He is the 2nd best player in the Eastern Conference. He is on top of his game right now. He is hitting the mid-range jumper at a rate he never has in his career and it makes him virtually unstoppable. This is what great nba players do, they develop. Wall hit 31% from mid range his first year, 33% his 2nd year and now has it up to 41% and recently has been over 50%. When he can hit his mid range jumper it is over. His fast break game is so unreal and then if he can hit the J he becomes a playoff game winning star.
*** Great to see Trey get his stroke back. 14 points and 6 assists. Strong night under tough circumstances.
*** Washington could be the 3rd seed in the East. This is a good basketball team. The Jazz were not sharp on the offensive end and the Wizards came in on fire offensively and were able to shoot 52.4%. At the same time the Jazz were not shooting well, they missed 12 free throws in 24 attempts and at the end of the night still had a chance to make a play to win it. This is an impressive performance. Washington is very good and tests the Jazz in every way. Test was passed in most areas.