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SALT LAKE CITY — One word can describe the Utah Jazz's playoff performance so far: atrocious.
The team who finished the season winning 13 of their final 16 games has lost the first three games of a first-round series with the Houston Rockets by an average of 18.3 points.
As the season progressed, the Jazz moved closer and closer to the identity they established last season as one of the best, if not the best, defensive teams in the NBA. The Jazz climbed to the second-best defensive rating of 105.2, behind only the Milwaukee Bucks at 104.9. This means that per 100 possessions, the Jazz only allowed 105.2 points on average.
With the increase in pace of play and the number of threes being taken, this rating is impressive. In the first two games of the playoffs, however, that number ballooned to 120.
So, what has been the difference and how can the Jazz fix the problem?
First, some credit must be given to the Rockets. Houston finished second in the regular season in offensive rating at 114.8, narrowly behind the defending champion Golden State Warriors at 114.9. They boast the best scorer in the league in James Harden, an aging but still effective guard in Chris Paul and some streaky shooters as role players.
The Rockets are simply a difficult team to stop, much less slow down. Harden, the league's leading scorer, has a plethora of weapons in his bag. His step back is nearly impossible to defend, he has a deceivingly quick first step and he has an uncanny knack for taking advantage of the rules and referees by drawing fouls.
In addition to Harden being Harden, the Rockets have been shooting the ball extremely well, particularly from the three. Houston has shot an impressive 35.5 percent from the 3-point line through the first three games of the series while the Jazz have shot only 27.3 percent. Despite this, it has seemed unusually difficult for the league’s second-best defense to remotely contain the Rockets’ arsenal, not just Harden.
Even considering the Rockets’ offensive brilliance, the Jazz defense must take some blame: The Jazz have used an unusual method of defending Harden. Seen earlier in the season by the Milwaukee Bucks, the Jazz picked up Harden at halfcourt and exclusively guarded his left hand. This forces him to play to his weak hand and make his step-back jump shot more difficult to get off.
But this leaves a wide-open lane for him to get to the rim and either shoot a floater, lob it to Clint Capela, or kick it out to a wide open 3-point shooter. This defense has been incredibly inefficient.
To make matters worse, the reigning and potential back-to-back defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert, is not effective on defense in this series. Gobert is not an offensive threat, but his defense and impact are second to none in the NBA. But an alarming stat through the first two games may suggest this type of series exposes Gobert: a defensive rating of 130.9 when he is on the floor. This number is absurd.
While the sample size of only three games is very small, this is still alarming to the Jazz and fans alike. So why does the Jazz defense struggle when their defensive juggernaut is on the floor?
The Rockets play a type of basketball that does not play to Gobert’s strength on defense. In last season’s first round, the Jazz faced an Oklahoma City Thunder team that struggled from the 3-point line and excelled at getting to the rim, which is exactly where Gobert is at his best.
The Rockets are a different type of team.
They broke their own record (twice) this season of most 3-pointers made in a game. The issue with Gobert on the floor against the Rockets is simple: Harden and 3-point shooting. If Gobert gets switched onto Harden, it becomes an easy isolation for Harden to blow by Gobert where Gobert is no longer protecting the rim.
When the Rockets have 3-point threats across the floor, it causes Gobert to have to slightly move away from the rim to take away the three. As interesting as it sounds, the Jazz defense might be better in this series without Gobert on the floor.
What can the Jazz do?
A new tactic should be proposed and discussed among the Jazz’ coaching staff: small ball. In the past few years, the Warriors’ most effective and feared lineup has been a “small-ball” lineup of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green — not a single center-playing player on the court.
The Jazz will have to attempt to mimic this style to be more successful in the series. A comparable lineup may look like one of the following:
- Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neale, Joe Ingles, Jae Crowder
- Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Jae Crowder, Derrick Favors
- Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Kyle Korver, Joe Ingles, Jae Crowder
The Jazz need more shooting to spread the floor on offense and more defensive versality — the first lineup may be the best one to accomplish that. While Crowder would match up with Capela and be much smaller, Crowder’s strength and toughness could keep Capela off the offensive board. Capela is not an offensive threat in terms of post offensive as he primarily gets his buckets from lobs and put-backs.
This lineup could play Harden straight up while having the ability to switch everything and guard the perimeter, while making it difficult for shooters to get open.
The offense would also benefit — not only from more and better shooting, but also from forcing Capela, a respectable rim-protector, away from the paint on defense while opening up more lanes for the young superstar Mitchell.
This may be an unorthodox strategy for the Jazz, but they desperately need to change something. Throwing an unusual strategy such as this could throw the Rocket’s out of rhythm and give the Jazz the spark they need to get back into this series.
If they are to have any hope of keeping this series competitive, let alone winning the series, they may want to take a page out of the book of their potential second-round opponent and defending champion Warriors and play smaller.
As strange as it sounds, the second-best defensive team in the league may benefit from playing their best defensive player less. But strange methods may be the only way to take down the red-hot Harden and the Rockets. Sports contributor, Podcaster, Analyst. Follow on Twitter @RBDeuce1 and tune in to Ball Don't Lie Podcast.
