The Utah Jazz entered the final game of their road swing against the New Orleans Hornets, hoping to maintain the positive momentum after winning their sixth game in eight attempts on Tuesday night.
And they did, right away. After the first quarter, they were behind by just 2 points, 39-37. They trailed 47-45 at 7:10, but they continued to play close, drawing even halfway through the second quarter. Then things got ugly for both teams. After almost three minutes of missed shots and a few turnovers, the Pelicans’ Herbert Jones dunk made the score 49-46 at 4:13 of the second quarter.
The Jazz would go without a basket until 1:22 of the game, when Lauri Markkanen’s three-pointer ultimately ended the drought. The Pelicans would lead 59-51 at the end of the quarter, and Will Hardy’s annoyance was already evident.
The Jazz would go on to outscore the Pelicans 25–22 in the third quarter, but they were only able to muster three baskets until Jordan Clarkson’s three at the 5:06 mark. The Jazz were severely harmed tonight by the unusual droughts.
The Pelicans jumped out to a 97-88 lead in the fourth quarter thanks to the Jazz’s poor shooting performance in the first six minutes of the game. Despite the Jazz’s best efforts, they were unable to close the gap and the Pelicans went on to win 112-105.
Concluding remarks on this one: The Jazz appeared unbalanced offensively for the majority of the evening. They shot poorly and desperately needed a spark, whether it was from a bad night or a hangover from the holidays. Despite having 27 assists, their offensive flow was poor for the majority of the game.
The Jazz will be back home for a much tougher 3-game homestand than their recent schedule, which includes games against Miami on Saturday, Boston on Monday, and Detroit on Wednesday. They’ll have to gather themselves and get it together. Notably, Detroit forced Boston into overtime tonight, suggesting that this will probably not be an easy victory for them.
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