The Utah Jazz returned to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder for the first time since the mid-March day that halted play in the NBA after Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The return brought back an array of emotions. Go back and watch videos from the March night in OKC when across the Chesapeake Energy Arena speakers the announcing the postponed game, silence rang throughout the stands. Fans rushed to their phones, alerted by the news of the Jazz All-Star Center’s positive test. Following the announcement was a mass exodus of fans throughout the Thunder arena. Those fans still have not returned, and the NBA and even the world hasn’t been the same since.
Fast forward nine months later to the Jazz returning to the same court they almost had to camp out in on that fateful night. In that time, rosters have changed, in-game attendance has changed, but the state of the pandemic really hasn’t changed except maybe for the worst. If the emptiness of NBA arenas weren’t reminder enough of the shadow that coronavirus has cast on sports, Utah’s return to play the Thunder sure was.
Quin Snyder
“You walk into the hotel, you walk into the arena, you can’t help but have some of those those memories, those visions,” said Jazz coach Quin Snyder. “… You can’t help but remember that evening — it was significant for both teams, really for the league,” he added. “But also the contrast between that point and where we are now, the season, the hiatus, the bubble, coming back and playing again — it seems like a lifetime since that happened.”
The Jazz came into Monday night’s game with a 1-1 record. The first game of the season against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Jazz looked electric offensively. They had double-digit scoring contributions from seven players and came out with a 120-100 victory in Portland. Game two at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves was a different story, however. Utah shot 38% from the field and suffered a disappointing 116-111 home loss to the T-Wolves. They came out cold, and the offense never made up for that.
Monday Night
Monday in Oklahoma City started similarly with a slow start offensively from the Utah Jazz. Donovan Mitchell had an especially rough start to the game shooting 3-15 from the field in the first three quarters. However, in the last six minutes of the game, Mitchell elevated his game to lift the Jazz to victory. It looked like the Thunder were about to close the game with a win until Donovan scored 12 straight Utah Jazz points on 5-for-8 shooting, including the go-ahead bucket with seven seconds on the clock.
The Jazz were also boosted by the second half scoring from Bojan Bogdanovic, who had a poor first half shooting the basketball but finished the game with 23 points and going 5-9 from three. It was the second half production of Bojan, Donovan Mitchell, and Mike Conley Jr. that helped keep them in the game. Conley narrowly missed out on a triple-double, rounding out the game with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Perhaps one of the biggest impacts in Monday night’s game came from their newly extended center Rudy Gobert. Rudy’s impact in this game doesn’t show up when checking the box score, especially looking at his first two games of the season, where he averaged 19 points and 17 rebounds per game. However, on Monday, Gobert’s stat line was 12 points and 10 rebounds, but his impact was much more. Rudy is currently carrying a 32 PER (player efficiency rating), which is seventh in the NBA. Moreover, Gobert is shutting down teams defensively. Rudy had 4 blocks on the night and altered even more, including the final Thunder shot attempt as time ran out. Don’t let the stat line fool you; Gobert’s performance was one of the most importing of the night.
What’s Next
While the Jazz escaped with a win, they still show a need for improvement. With that said, as evident in their first game of the season and Donovan Mitchell’s fourth-quarter run against the Thunder, when the Jazz offense is clicking, they are ar tough team to beat. The next two games for Utah are important as they face the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers on a back to back.
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