Jazz Get Best Win Of The Season Over Milwaukee

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz got their best win of the season when they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 131-118. The win halted a two-game road losing streak and handed the Bucks their first home loss of the season.

The Jazz set a few franchise records in the game thanks to their hot three-point shooting. 25 made threes is a new record for the team in a game, as were the nine threes they made in the first quarter.

The team also set an NBA record with five different players all hitting at least four three-point shots. Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, Royce O’Neale, Donovan Mitchell, and Jordan Clarkson all sunk at least four deep balls for the Jazz in the win.

.@utahjazz snapped their two-game losing streak with a record-breaking performance.#TakeNote https://t.co/0nRdPjm6CI

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 9, 2021

Jazz Two Bigs Find Success

For the first time this season, Quin Snyder paired Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors together in the front row. The Jazz opened the second and fourth quarters with the grouping and found surprising success.

Over the first 4:24 of the second quarter, the Jazz were -1 with the duo on the floor. The Jazz opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run with the two big men on the floor together, turning an eight-point lead into an 18 point lead, and essentially ending the game with seven minutes left to play.

“We haven’t seen it as much because matchups and games haven’t dictated it as much,” Snyder said of the pairing. “But we know what those two guys can do.”

⬆️⬆️⬆️rudy⬆️⬆️⬆️
⬇️everyone else⬇️#TakeNote | @rudygobert27 pic.twitter.com/yfpKjdvNKX

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 9, 2021

The two-big lineup was a mainstay for the Jazz during Favors first stint with the team, but the team’s lack of offensive spacing while they shared the floor was difficult in the postseason.

This is how the two stretches looked offensively.

In the second quarter, the Jazz went 5-8 from the field with the two on the floor together but missed their only three-point attempt.

In the fourth quarter, the Jazz shot 5-11 from the field and connected on 2-6 shots from the three-point line.

Overall, the Jazz shot 10-19 during the two stretches, but connected on just 2-7 three-point attempts in roughly 10 minutes together on the floor, and were a +11.

32 for 45 pic.twitter.com/tn0maNoLnF

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 9, 2021

Conversely, this is how the Bucks looked during the two stretches.

In the second quarter, the Bucks shot 3-6 from the floor against the Jazz two bigs, including 3-5 from three.

In the fourth quarter, the Bucks shot just 1-9 from the floor, went 0-6 from three, and turned the ball over three times.

Overall the Bucks went 4-15 from the floor, 3-11 from three, and were a -11.

“That’s an imposing duo on the defensive end,” Snyder said. “That’s why we used it. That lineup, I think as we get more integrated, you’ll see it again.”

Before Jazz fans read too far into the duo, it should be noted that the Bucks are an unusually good matchup for the two-big lineup.

Milwaukee frequently plays Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo together on the floor, which allows the Jazz to counter with two bigs of their own. And as well as the Jazz played with both bigs on the floor, Lopez connected on three of his first four three-point attempts with so much attention being paid towards Antetokounmpo.

Royce O’Neale’s Best Game Ever

It’s possible Royce O’Neale had the best game of his career tonight. First, his stat line was terrific. O’Neale finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals, and connected on 6-8 three-point attempts.

The wing was playing so well he even got a technical foul for taunting when he pushed his ‘three-point goggles’ into the face of Thanasis Antetokounmpo.

“We were moving the ball on the offensive end, I was just taking open shots and knocking them down,” O’Neale said. “The guys were finding me when I’m open.”

headband royce? antler royce?#SloMoPlay | @lhmauto pic.twitter.com/zA924ceu7Y

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 9, 2021

Equally as important as his shooting however was his defense against Giannis Antetokounmpo in the second half.

The Jazz opened the game with Gobert and Favors playing deep drop coverage against the two-time MVP and it was a disaster. The Greek Freak scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the game and finished the first half with 25 points on 10-15 shooting.

While Gobert can disrupt some of Antetokounmpo’s drives due to his length, Favors is simply no match one on one.

At the half, the Jazz switched and had O’Neale meet Antetkounmpo as he approached the three-point line, with Gobert helping as a weakside defender. It’s a gamble because if the Jazz wings miss their rotation, Lopez will get wide-open threes, but the Jazz had to do something.

The plan worked to perfect and Antetkounmpo was unable to get a full head of steam against the Jazz defense, and the perimeter defenders help cover for Gobert on their rotations.

You can see the defense work perfectly in the tweet below.

rudy blocks: ⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️#TakeNote | @rudygobert27 pic.twitter.com/zAOUqhcvlw

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 9, 2021

O’Neale has taken some heat over the last two games due to his poor defense against guards Kyrie Irving and Austin Rivers, but Snyder was quick to applaud him after the Jazz win over Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo scored only 10 more points over the final two quarters.

“Royce’s ability to defend bigger players allows Rudy and Fav to have a presence on the weak side,” Snyder said. “When those guys aren’t necessarily guarding the ball they can help.”

It was an impressive bounce-back performance from a player the Jazz will need if they want to have success throughout the postseason.

Clarkson And Mitchell Carry Jazz Vs. Milwaukee

For as well as the team’s two-big lineup played and as well as O’Neale played, it was the performances from Clarkson and Mitchell that secured the Jazz victory in Milwaukee.

Clarkson carried the Jazz in the first half scoring 23 points on 9-16 shooting and 4-8 from the three-point line. While he wasn’t quite as brilliant as Antetokounmpo in the first, he helped the Jazz build a seven-point lead at the half.

The reserve guard isn’t suited to play 30 minutes a night. With his frenetic style of play and constant movement, he’s best utilized at about 25 minutes a night. Clarkson scored 23 points in his first 20 minutes on the floor for the Jazz and just three more points over the final 10.

Jordan Clarkson had a tremendous first half for the @utahjazz.

He is hanging with the reigning MVP in the scoring column. #TakeNote https://t.co/X3lZyERc87

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 9, 2021

When Clarkson dropped off in the second half, Mitchell more than carried the weight. After a solid, albeit unspectacular 12 point, 3-9 shooting performance in the first half, Mitchell was the best player on the floor in the third and fourth quarters.

The All-Star guard had 20 points on 9-15 shooting, 2-5 from the three-point line, and handed out four assists to keep the Bucks at bay.

After a tough performance against the Knicks on Wednesday, Mitchell was happy to play better in Milwaukee.

“This is what I expect to play like every night as far as being able to distribute the ball, I think I had one turnover all night,” Mitchell said. “Being able to make the game easier myself this is how I expect to play.”

Mitchell finished with 32 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and yes, just one turnover.

Highlight Of The Night

Bojan Bogdanovic had a good game to break out of his early-season slump. He finished with 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists in the Jazz win over Milwaukee.

However, it was his dunk against the Bucks, more specifically former Utah State guard Sam Merrill that was the highlight of the night.

BOJAN!!! Where did this come from???
(poor Sam Merrill)#TakeNote l #UTAatMIL pic.twitter.com/ZplHvlKTzc

— Sam Farnsworth (@Samsworth_KSL) January 9, 2021

Bogdanovic was stuck in the game as he was shooting free-throws when Snyder subbed the Jazz bench unit in the final 90 seconds of the win. As a result, Bogdanovic ended up recording garbage minutes and made the most of it.

The Jazz now head to Detroit for a rare midday game. The Jazz and Pistons tip-off at 1 pm MST on Sunday.