Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans Recap: Zion Williamson beats the Jazz

On By Littum

The Utah Jazz move to (10-30) after a (123-136) loss to the (11-32) New Orleans Pelicans. A late scratch for Walker Kessler and that void was noticeable.

Game overview

1st quarter

The first quarter was underway and the Pelicans were just dominating Utah on both ends of the floor. CJ McCollum started 5-5 from three and scored a quick 15 points before missing his first shot of the game. The early scratch to Kessler meant defending the paint would be a team effort, and throughout the first quarter, Zion and Dejounte Murray exposed that paint. Offensively, Collin Sexton was the only real scorer for Utah, but most of them were from the stripe. The Pelicans were quicker to every possession and caused Utah 5 turnovers in the quarter. The first quarter ended with Utah(22) to New Orleans(42).

2. Quarter

The second quarter started like the first and the pace of the Pelikan’s play was extremely fast. The passes and kicks to the three absolutely killed Utah in this first half, and Utah’s defense just wasn’t quick enough to close out. The Jazz had their fair share of open shots, but didn’t start hitting them until the 8 minute mark, when Utah then went on an 11-0 run. At this point we started to see some life in the Jazz and the defensive intensity started to improve as well. The half ended with Utah(52) to New Orleans(61).

3rd quarter

Coming out of the break, the Pelicans went on an early 10-0 run until Collin Sexton got the first buckets of the quarter for Utah. Drew Eubanks had a strong performance on the defensive end as he was an absolute wall against Zion and you could see a noticeable difference from when he was inside vs. Daniel Theis’ known big man shooter hurt the Jazz with his three ball. The quarter ended with Utah(80) to New Orleans(96).

4th quarter

The final quarter was underway and it appeared the Pelicans were being asked to tighten up on defense because Jose Alvarado pressured Utah full court to start the quarter. It worked. The Jazz went cold on offense. The Pelicans took advantage, led by Zion, who began to gain more presence and dominate, nothing Drew Eubanks could do. The three-ball also went in the Pelikan’s favor, and it just seemed like they couldn’t miss. The match ended with Utah losing (123) to New Orleans (136).

Game Recap: for Dummies, Casuals and Hoop Nerds

Go where you think best fits your basketball knowledge. If you need help knowing which section to go to, let me help.

Recap for Dummies: These are for fans learning the sport of basketball or just giving the sport a try. Glad to have you, and props to you for joining at such an interesting time in the franchise.

Recap for Casuals: This section is for fans who don’t care about advanced stats and just enjoy the product on the field. It’s also for fans who don’t catch every game, but are just curious to see how the team is doing every once in a while, or want to know how the team did against a big name like tonight in Zion Williamson.

Recap for Hoop Nerds: This section is for jazz basketball diehards. These are the people who catch every Hoops Nerd live stream and have followed the Utah Jazz their entire lives. The people who have been through thick and thin. The athletes who thought they were good enough to go pro or coach in the league but had to turn down the offers to better their “family”.

Recap For Dummies

One of the biggest factors in this game was the Pelican’s ability to drive and kick extremely well against the Jazz.

A drive and kick out is when an offensive player attacks the paint in hopes of attracting the attention of defenders, who then give the offensive player an open person to pass the ball out to normally above the three-point line.

Dejounte Murray did this extremely well, leading to Utah not being able to stop the defender (close) quickly enough. This led to the Pelicans having a field day from three early in the game.

Another factor that changed this game was the amount of offensive rebounds the Pelicans were able to have.

Offensive rebounds are a big way teams get big leads, these rebounds lead to second chance points and a 24 second shot clock restart giving you another opportunity to score on the offensive end.

A big part of the reason New Orleans had so much success in the rebounding game was because Utah was missing third-year Center Walker Kessler. An early scratch for the game, Kessler has had a career year. At the moment, he has a strong case for being the team’s best player at the moment.

Recap For Casuals

The Utah Jazz are now (3-7), but for a rebuilding team like Utah, most of these games have been good for the team’s development.

From a viewership standpoint, Sexton will always have to be up there. His first game back from injury and man was he electric. He is physical and always has an extremely strong work ethic. Sexton has had a career year, which is why other teams around the league are keeping an eye on the Young Bull.

Not a good night from 9th overall pick Cody Williams, who is still trying to find himself in the league. Williams spent a lot of time in the G-League this season, but has recently been playing consistent minutes with the first team. But if we keep it real, he was completely invisible. Not what you want to see from your 9th overall pick almost halfway through the season.

For New Orleans, Zion played just 22 minutes and dominated in 19 of those 22. The Pelicans are still getting Williamson back to full fitness after being out most of this season. But man was the 4th quarter dominant.

It looked like the team saved his energy for that quarter, and heck, he’s a geek by nature who just needs to stay healthy.

A shoutout must be given to Drew Eubanks who tried his best and had some good stops. The score would have looked worse if he wasn’t down there tonight.

Recap For Hoop Nerds

Holy Crap New Orleans absolutely cooked Utah from three tonight. The Pelicans shot 44% from three last night to Utah’s 34.2%.

The Pelicans’ three-point run was insane as CJ McCollum began the game with a quick 15 (5-5) from three before missing his first of the game. Then Jose Alvarado and company looked like a 2k fourth quarter inning that burned the net.

Other than that, Utah was pretty close in most stats. Just shows why teams prefer the three ball so much more.

New Orleans also outrebounded Utah (64-49) with 21 of those coming on the offensive end. Walker Kessler you were missed. But Drew Eubanks held his own for most of the game, finishing with 17 points, 4 blocks and 7 rebounds.

Another thing that absolutely destroyed Utah tonight was the transition. Every time the Pelicans grabbed a rebound, it seemed like 3 of them were already down the court.

Cody Williams put up zero points and had a -31 plus minus, just leave it at that, don’t look at my preview.

Svi Mykhailiuk shot 3-10 from three, but finished with 16 points.

Collier didn’t have a bad game. Had 8 points and 11 assists. Collier could very easily get double-doubles every game if he stays on this trajectory and just continues his growth on the offensive end.

Players to be traded yesterday

As much as Sexton is fun to watch and a great guy by the way. Get this man to a competitor ASAP!!! Give those minutes back to Collier. There is no reason to play him for 31 minutes and I am so tired of his hero ball sometimes.

Also, if the Clarkson to Dallas rumor is true, I could see him being a good fit. He wanted to be a contender too, so I’d really like to see that happen.

Was it good for the tank?

Absolutely! With this loss, The Pelicans now jump in Utah, and with the Hornets winning today, Utah’s lottery odds just jumped drastically. If Utah continues how they have been playing and the right moves happen before the trade deadline, we could see a lot of development and minutes in the second half of the season.

If you like this format and are interested in learning about Hockey and the newest NHL franchise in Utah. Check out Brogan Houston (Desert News writer on the Utah Hockey Club) who gave me this idea! He is an absolutely fantastic resource for newcomers to the sport and a fantastic writer.

Link to latest game summary.

Next game

Who: Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans

When: 20 January at 18.00 mountain time

Where: Smoothie King Center- New Orleans, LA

See: Jazz+, KJZZ