Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors (15) moves between Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks (24) and Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) during an NBA basketball game at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz struggled to get going offensively in a 92-84 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies Monday despite scoring what seemed at will in its first two games. The team chalked it up to not making correct reads and nor the extra pass.
The offensive rating for the Jazz win against the Sacramento Kings was 116.4 per 100 possessions. In the lost to Golden State the Jazz had a 119.4 offensive rating.
The game against the Grizzlies was just the opposite. The offensive rating was 88.5. To put in perspective the league average in the 2017-2018 season was 108.6. Despite the poor shooting the Jazz believe it can make corrections ahead of its four-game road trip.
“The most accurate thing I can say is we weren’t making the right reads,” head coach Quin Snyder said following the loss. “We’re an unselfish team, and we didn’t make the right reads and we didn’t make the extra pass. That’s who we are. It didn’t happen the way it needs to tonight, and I’m sure our guys feel the same way I do.”
The Jazz’s coach seems to know his players as that is exactly what some of them also said.
“We need to find another way when games like this happen,” said guard Dante Exum. “If you’re not shooting well, it’s attacking the paint and making sure we’re getting not just an open shot, but wide open shots. It’s the extra pass. Stuff like that … we’ve got to keep searching, keep searching, keep digging. I think that’s the biggest thing for us.”
The Jazz did have a great defensive performance, but Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who scored 11 points on 6 shots against the Grizzlies, said his team did not make the correct reads.
“We were locked in defensively. I feel like we played hard,” Gobert said. “We just have to just figure out a way to just play basketball offensively. They got really physical and we started thinking too much when the shot didn’t go in, so we’ve just got to keep trusting each other and keep playing as a team.”
The Jazz will first travel to Texas Wednesday to take on the Rockets. Houston will be without star Chris Paul who is serving a two-game suspension for his altercation on the court with Lakers’ guard Rajon Rondo Saturday. Forward James Ennis is also out with a strained hamstring.
Tip-off is at 6 P.M. MDT.