Traveling to Denver, with the Nuggets who were very happy but tired from their demo the day before, the Utah soldiers did the job to dismiss Nikola Jokic and his gang at the end of the game. A part fairly well managed by the visitors, who were able to count on the return of a four-star Rudy Gobert to hold their gaze against the reigning MVP (125-102).
It was the matchup everyone was waiting for.
Rudy vs Nikola, Gobert vs Jokic, with all their backgrounds, with the divisional rivalry, with the pivot position to secure and franchises to keep at the top level.
For several games, 5 to be precise, the Jazz had not been able to count on your main tower in defense and the results were unfortunately quite obvious since Quin Snyder and his men lost 4 games in a row. A porous defense, timid rotations, Toronto, Indiana, Detroit and Cleveland all had fun without the giant of Saint-Quentin in the racket opposite. Which also opened a funny discussion, when we know that Rudy’s place in the hierarchy of important players in the NBA is often discussed. Can Gobert’s impact be measured in defense alone? And was it just a bout of fatigue with several Covid absences? What is certain is that the Jazz moved to Colorado this Sunday evening, to the Nuggets who had just beaten the Lakers the day before. High altitude, confident players in the rows opposite, watch out for the stupid trap that could play tricks on visitors from Salt Lake City. In the in-between, Rudy faces Jokic, and everyone prepares to enjoy the meeting.
Suffice to say that the match offered several waves, and each had its moment of glory. Aaron Gordon, in particular, started the match perfectly and breathed the necessary energy for the public to push the players tired of their weekend marathon. Will Barton, horrible in the first period, recovered very seriously in the second. Bojan Bogdanović? Sublime from start to finish, with Jordan Clarkson putting the push in the first half and Donovan Mitchell running the business in the second. Utah was effective on offense, but not cheeky either. And that’s partly because the gaze was held by several of the Denver players just mentioned, who were rolling up their sleeves and contributing to the team effort. Like Monte Morris and Bones Hyland, bringing a bit of punch to creation and scoring. But of course, it was around Nikola Jokic that everything was happening, for good as well as much less well (25 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists). In this kind of meeting, we see all the dependence that there is around an exceptional player on certain evenings, the current depth of the workforce of Mike Malone not being able to help in nights like this Sunday. Results ? When the Joker was aggressive and connected in all aspects of the game, it was head shake after head shake for the Jazz defense who could do nothing against the excellence of the Serbian pivot. And when the reigning MVP was on the bench…? Well, it was exactly at this precise moment that the Nuggets fell apart, as in the start of the last quarter which saw a close game and an electric atmosphere at the Ball Arena turn into a Jazz ballad and dead silence, under the depressed eyes of Niko the giant. We saw Denver exhausted on the ground, after almost forty minutes of good fight. But in the end, it was too short, much too short against a fresher, more skilful squad, and more in the urgency of victory.
PARDON @rudygobert27 ?!?!?! ????????????????????????????????????????????pic.twitter.com/aBXsqjFSa4
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) January 17, 2022
Can we say that the return of Rudy Gobert has been good for Jazz? With 18 points and 19 rebounds at 7/7 shooting, 2 assists, 2 blocks and +36 (!!!) +/-?
Yes we can.
Rudy did not individually win his matchup, but that’s not where Gobert makes the difference. Quin Snyder and the Utah fans must have been very happy seeing this meeting, the Denver outsides being forced to change their plans when the number 27 trailed in the key. Taking advantage of Jokic’s minutes on the bench to beat the Nuggets’ too weak interior sector, Rudy chained dunks and good defensive possessions to widen the gap. It was so obvious, to see the impact that the Frenchman has in the success of his team, that the last four games lost by the Jazz seem even more aberrant after this victory putting an end to the internal bleeding. Even Jokic, forced to struggle to face the long arms of the tricolor, released a few large drops of perspiration in the battle, an objective achieved for the Jazz by trying to exhaust the head of the Colorado snake. So yes, there was this shot from the other end of the field which did not count and could have put an end to Evan Fournier’s career, but beyond this fun action it is above all the presence reassuring from Gobert who propelled the Jazz and allowed Donovan Mitchell, the offensive star that he is, to finish the business with a big heat stroke in the second half. As discussed recently, the Jazz are in the process of gauging themselves in order to know if this group is made to play the title… or not. A little less than a month from the trade deadline, these questions arise and the big successes help to reassure us. The reunion with Rudy is good, now it will be confirmed with a trip to the Lakers this Monday evening of MLK Day, and an end of January which will determine many things in the recent history of the Jazz.
Nikola Jokic won the battle, Rudy Gobert the war? Difficult to say, but if the Serbian pivot was still sensational but too lonely in Denver, the French giant showed how fundamental he was in the success of his team. Utah is recovering, pending confirmation against the Lakers that the Nuggets have just beaten. So normally, if we follow the logic, Utah should win by 250 points on Monday night.
