Gobert Returns, Gets Tossed As Jazz Crush Rockets

SALT LAKE CITY – Rudy Gobert returned to the floor for the Utah Jazz in their 135-101 blowout win over the Houston Rockets.

Gobert scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 22 minutes, but was ejected midway through the fourth quarter after picking up his second technical foul of the game.

The big man had missed the Jazz previous nine games as he recovered from a calf strain he suffered on January 23 in Golden State.

“I felt strong, I feel great,” Gobert said of his calf injury. “I did some pretty explosive movement without thinking about it. I didn’t have any extra pain.”

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 30 points, seven assists, and six rebounds in the win.

With the victory, the Jazz completed their long homestand with a perfect 6-0 record and improved to 36-21 on the season.

The @utahjazz cruised to a sixth consecutive victory with a blowout of the @HoustonRockets. 💥#TakeNote #HOUvsUTA https://t.co/bwN675M0WJ

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 15, 2022

Snyder Extends Rotation Against Houston

Even with Gobert back on the floor (temporarily), Quin Snyder played one of his biggest rotations of the season.

In the first half alone, Snyder played 11 players at least four minutes each. In addition to the regular starting five, Trent Forrest, Jordan Clarkson, Danuel House Jr., Eric Paschall, Hassan Whiteside, and Udoka Azubuike all saw real minutes.

It must be noted that the Jazz are still without Rudy Gay, and Gobert is on a minutes rotation holding him below 20 minutes, but still, 11 players is a lot when Snyder could have easily filled the minutes with nine.

The @utahjazz aren't fully healthy without Rudy Gay, but for now it looks like Quin Snyder has a 10-man rotation in this game with Trent Forrest, Jordan Clarkson, Danuel House Jr., Eric Paschall, and Hassan Whiteside all getting first-half minutes.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 15, 2022

In recent weeks, Forrest, Paschall, and Azubuike have all shown significant growth in their games, which has made it difficult to send them back to the end of the bench just because the team is returning to health.

Though Snyder will surely trim his rotation down to nine players as the postseason nears, there’s a significant luxury to having a deep rotation, especially after playing so shorthanded throughout January.

As the Jazz have seen over the last month, and truthfully over the last two seasons, injuries to the starting lineup will doom the team’s playoff hopes, and keeping their star players healthy is the top objective before the end of the regular season.

House making Vivint his home 🏡#TakeNote | @DanuelHouseJr pic.twitter.com/ybRA5RrsCV

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 15, 2022

But beyond preserving their health, the opportunity to lower the workload of the top-nine players in the rotation by incorporating one or two players on a semi-regular basis could be important to maintain the team’s freshness.

With Gay still on the roster, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Juancho Hernangomez also joining the team, there’s no certainty that the 11 players Snyder played in the first half against Houston are the only players the coach is willing to mix in over the final 25 games of the season.

Regardless, it’s a development worth tracking as the Jazz gear up for the postseason.

Replacing A Lefty

So much has been made of the leadership qualities the Jazz were losing when they sent Joe Ingles to the Portland Trail Blazers at the trade deadline, that it seems his contributions on the floor have been overlooked.

Not only was Ingles good for a solid 25 minutes of guard play each night, but he also brought another somewhat unique quality to the Jazz — he was left-handed.

Mike Conley is also left-handed, but the majority of his shots come from the right side of the floor as you can see in the chart below. Interestingly, he’s a significantly better shooter on the left side of the floor.

Coming out of college, Nickeil Alexander-Walker predominantly attacked the basket with his left hand, even though he shoots right-handed, potentially giving the Jazz a pick and roll options option to replace Ingles.

Before the game, I asked Snyder if there was value to having a mixture of right and left-handed players in a rotation, similar to baseball teams that like to alternate handedness in their lineup.

“What I’ve seen from Nickeil in the short time that we’ve had him is he’s very comfortable passing the ball with his left,” Snyder said. “He’s a good passer.”

The guard was tasked with initiating the Jazz offense during four minutes on the floor and showed off his knack for lefty passes finding Azubuike on a roll to the rim. However, the big man was fouled by the Rockets before he could give Alexander-Walker the assist.

The Jazz are a relatively balanced team but still tend to shoot more heavily on the right side of the floor. If Alexander-Walker can break into the admittedly deep lineup, it will be worth watching it the Jazz shooting evens out slightly due to his preference for his left hand.

What Does The Jazz Record Say?

Regardless of what happens on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Jazz will go into the All-Star break with the fourth-best record in the West.

Due to the number of injures and games lost to COVID, it’s hard to believe everything the standings say considering how dissimilar teams may look between the regular season and the postseason games.

Snyder discussed his feelings about the Jazz standings.

You can probably more often than not make the argument that you’re what your record is,” Snyder said. “That’s why they have the playoffs, and even then it’s how well are you playing?”

📹| "Continue to stay relentless"#WalkoffInterview | @lhmauto pic.twitter.com/sUiHPKd8IF

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 15, 2022

The Jazz had the best record in the NBA for most of the season last year but weren’t playing their best basketball in June when both Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley were hurt.

After Monday’s win, the Jazz moved to 23-8 this season with their five traditional starters in the rotation, and are playing arguably their best basketball of the season heading into the All-Star break.

By Snyder’s logic, this six-game win streak may be a better indicator of who the team is than their current fourth seed in the West and a reason for excitement for fans over the second half of the season.

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