For longtime hoops habitues, the narrative surrounding the Rockets-Jazz series was simple. Heading into the second-round pairing, they figured on being given a healthy dose of offense versus defense. And, needless to say, they saw the top seeds headed by presumptive Most Valuable Player James Harden with the advantage. Apart from the more obvious reasons, there was the added benefit of facing handicapped opposition; starting point guard Ricky Rubio figured to be decommissioned for the immediate future due to a hamstring injury.
Considering the way the matchup has unfolded, however, it鈥檚 clear that the Jazz have made the necessary adjustments to their game. In Rubio鈥檚 absence, they鈥檝e moved to make their sets simpler, with their tweak predicated on pushing the pace. In other words, they鈥檝e resolve to turn the tables on the Rockets by playing the latter鈥檚 style. And, as with just about any other adjustment head coach Quin Snyder made throughout the season, it has reaped dividends; from the second half of the opener and through all of Game Two yesterday, they鈥檝e placed pressure on coverages by underscoring the importance of quick decisions while keeping with their egalitarian culture.
Certainly, the Jazz haven鈥檛 changed. Defense remains the foundation of their competitiveness. That said, Snyder has seen fit to highlight their core competency by maximizing his personnel鈥檚 strengths at the other end of the court. And so he has had charges moving the ball, and fast. And in halfcourt sets, he has given Rookie of the Year candidate Donovan Mitchell the responsibility to make plays off pindown screen-and-roll situations, to significant success. The development then prevents the Rockets from transitioning quickly and, in turn, affords them time to ready their counters.
As the Jazz prep for their homestand tomorrow, they can rightly point to the strides they鈥檝e made. It isn鈥檛 just that they managed to steal a contest at the Toyota Center; it鈥檚 how they did so. And the numbers show the extent to which they鈥檝e 鈥渙ut-Rocketed鈥 the Rockets; in Game Two, they again shot better from the field, scored more fastbreak points, and had more field goals off more assists. If anything, it can be argued that they鈥檝e been significantly better than their supposedly superior competition over the last six quarters.
Certainly, the Jazz still have much to do. The Rockets aren鈥檛 going away, and especially not with Harden — arguably the one player in the league that cannot be stopped with consistency — in the fold. Still, followers of the pro scene now know this for certain: they鈥檙e witnessing a bona fide fight that initial prognoses wrongly discounted as academic.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994.
