Tuesday 5/22

Utah v San Antonio (Spurs up 2-0) – I wish I could say that this series wasn’t playing out exactly like I thought it would, but it is. SA has been running their offense to perfection, getting whatever looks they want at will. The Spurs passing in their half court sets has been near textbook as well. The numbers are scary when you consider that SA is shooting 54.93% from the field and averaging 27 assists per game as a team. To put that in perspective, Phoenix led the league in both categories during the regular season at 49.42% and 25.87 apg respectively. The next thing the Spurs have done is completely taken away the Jazz secondary fast break. SA has successfully turned Utah into a strictly half court squad, essentially taking away half the Jazz offensive game plan.

Utah has been outscored by 31 points combined (64 to 33) in the 2nd quarters so far. If you take away those two quarters though, the Jazz have actually outscored the Spurs 163 to 149. I don’t know what the problem is there, but it also happened against Golden State in Game 3, and needs to be remedied immediately. While things look awfully bleak for Utah at the moment, there is hope. After a slow start in Game 1 Carlos Boozer has proven that he can take it to whomever SA throws at him. Likewise, Deron Williams has been eating the Spurs alive to the tune of 30 points, 9.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2 steals per game while shooting 54.77% from the field.

The main thing the Jazz need to realize is that you have to play at a completely different level in terms of consistent effort, execution and intensity to beat a squad like the Spurs on this stage. If the Jazz can rediscover their defensive and running game's back in Salt Lake, this might be a series yet. As of now though, I still foresee a split in Utah and this one being over in five.