3 keys to the Utah Jazz’s 123-97 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks

The Utah Jazz lost to Milwaukee Bucks, 123-97, on Saturday night.

Despite the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo was a late scratch from the contest and that the Bucks were also without Khris Middleton, the Jazz seemed like they had run out of energy before the game really got going.

Before the midway point of the fourth quarter, the game had already gotten away from the Jazz, and head coach Will Hardy emptied the bench.

Here are three keys that contributed to the Jazz’ loss:

• The were thoroughly and embarrassingly outrebounded 59-35. It wasn’t for lack of opportunity. The Jazz missed 47 of their 86 attempts and the Bucks missed 42 of their 90 shots. The Bucks were just better on the boards and worked harder.
• The Jazz had a complete lack of physicality in the contest. The clearest way of seeing that is that they had just six free throw attempts all night long. But you could also see it on the eye test. They weren’t getting into the ball, they weren’t offering resistance and they weren’t aggressive.
• The Jazz did not respect shooters. They weren’t closing out shots quick enough and even with guys who are known to knock down shots, the Jazz just seemed slow to move out to the perimeter. The Bucks finished the night 18-of-38 (47.4%) from deep.