Jazz Offense Flounders Without Conley In Loss To Bulls

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz fell to the Chicago Bulls 107-99 to suffer their first loss of the season.

Mike Conley missed the game as the veteran was resting on the front end of the team’s back-to-back games and struggled to find a rhythm offensively despite a 30 point outing from Donovan Mitchell.

The Bulls were led by DeMar DeRozan who also had 32 points as the Bulls improved to 5-1 on the season.

The @utahjazz fell to the Chicago Bulls for their first loss of the season despite 30 points from Donovan Mitchell. #TakeNote https://t.co/jsEQ4Qnzov

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 31, 2021

Jazz Miss Conley In Loss

It’s no coincidence that the Jazz had their worst offensive performance of the season without Conley as the team failed to break the 100 point mark for the first time this year against the talented Chicago defense.

As a group, the Jazz shot just 38 percent from the floor and 28 percent from three. Though they found success shooting the ball in the fourth quarter, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson combined to connect on just 4-22 field goal attempts including 1-10 threes through the first three quarters.

The Jazz led 57-54 at halftime, but without better results from their third and fourth-leading scorers on the season, the team managed just 15 third quarter points and was never able to retake the lead.

The @utahjazz were outscored by 10 in the third quarter and trail the @chicagobulls 79-72.

Jazz had just 15 points in the third quarter. #takenote pic.twitter.com/hDKaUu95bE

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 31, 2021

While Mitchell led the Jazz with 30 points, he needed 27 field goal attempts to reach his total and committed six turnovers manning the point guard position without Conley.

“Mike settles us,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said after the loss. “When you get pressured like that we have to help each other.”

Mitchell, Clarkson, and Joe Ingles combined to commit 14 of the Jazz 20 turnovers as the team missed its starting point guard.

Conley is expected to return tomorrow against the Milwaukee Bucks but will continue to a candidate to sit out games in back-to-back sets.

Jared Butler Struggles In Big Opportunity

Without Conley on the floor, rookie Jared Butler got his biggest opportunity of the season playing nine meaningful minutes in a close game.

After scoring his first NBA points against the Houston Rockets on Thursday, Butler was once again stymied against Chicago going scoreless for the fourth time in five outings.

The Jazz struggled in Butler’s minutes as the rookie hasn’t quite taken grasp of the team’s offense when he sees the floor. Butler regularly slows the team’s offensive momentum as his decision-making isn’t up to speed with the rest of the players on the roster.

Jared Butler's postgame media session was four minutes long and he said the word "hard" seven different times to describe the first five games of his NBA career.

He'll figure it out, but the regular season has certainly flipped his strong preseason on its head.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) October 31, 2021

“It’s a tough mental battle,” Butler said of his early-season struggles, “but it’s about being a professional and being able to produce under pressure.”

After getting to the rim at will in college due to his terrific ball-handling skills and ability to finish over smaller defenders, Butler now defaults to dribbling the ball when he catches it rather than continuing to find the Jazz better players around the perimeter.

Butler finished the game 0-3 from the floor with two fouls and two turnovers as the Jazz were outscored by 16 in his nine minutes. The guard is now just 1-12 from the floor to open the season.

Jazz Could Use Rudy Gay Against Bulls

Despite better than expected performances from Eric Paschall and Hassan Whiteside to open the season, it’s been clear at times early in the season that the Jazz could use another veteran off the bench to add size and scoring.

With Clarkson struggling to find the bottom of the net and the Jazz playing shorthanded without Conley, a veteran like Gay who can create his own shot and help the second unit execute its offensive would have been a bonus against Chicago.

After a terrific performance against the younger Rockets, Paschall managed just two points and two rebounds in nearly 16 minutes against the Bulls and was a team-worst -19 on the night.

By the way Hassan Whiteside was +7 again tonight in a game the Jazz lost by 8.

This small sample size continues to get bigger, and it's leading in Whiteside's favor so far.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) October 31, 2021

Last season the Jazz almost always won the minutes that Rudy Gobert was on the floor which is why he led the NBA in plus-minus to finish the season. However, this season Gobert ranks eighth on the team with an average of +3.8 per game, with Paschall coming in at +0.8, the lowest of the Jazz top nine rotation players.

If Gay can up those numbers with Gobert when he joins the roster he’ll provide a significant spark to the team.