SALT LAKE CITY — In the NBA, if you’re looking for a chance to get back on the winning track, it can help if your next opponent happens to be on the second leg of back-to-back games playing in cities at altitude. But if that team happens to have the best record in your conference, that advantage may be diminished — especially if one of best players on the other team is an all-time great.
Wednesday night, the Utah Jazz (12-9) will try to continue their home dominance at Vivint Arena against the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers (18-3). The Jazz are still reeling from a nine-day road trip in which they dropped four of five games, while the Lakers are coming off a 105-96 win Tuesday over a solid Denver Nuggets (13-5) squad that is No. 3 in the conference.
Led by LeBron James (25.6 points per game) and Anthony Davis (26.1 ppg), L.A. has emerged as one of the elite teams in a very competitive West — though critics may argue that only three of their wins have come against teams with winning records. Considering Utah has one of the best home marks in the NBA at 8-1, tonight’s contest looks to be a challenge for either team on paper.
The Lakers currently have the No. 5-rated defense in the league, while the Jazz rank No. 10. Speaking after shootaround Wednesday morning at the Zions Bank Basketball Campus, Utah center Rudy Gobert said tonight’s matchup will be a test for both teams.
“I think they have a great defensive team. (Lakers backup center) Dwight (Howard) has been playing great every minute he is on the court and (center) JaVale (McGee) — all these guys at every position are playing great defense. So it’s a very good defensive team,” Gobert said. “There’s some things maybe we can look at. I feel like the way (they) play (is) with a chip on the(ir) shoulder. They come in every night to try to be physical and try to make it hard on their opponents. It’s a team that it’s going to be fun to compete against.”
Gobert added that the way to compete against such a good team will be to play their best from the outset.
“Just play basketball — be aggressive, be strong with the ball and move the ball and share the ball,” Gobert said. “I think when we play that way, there’s not a team that can really stop us consistently. If we play the way we play with the players we have and the talent that we have — especially playing off our defense — I think it’s really key.”
Teammate Royce O’Neale will have the unenviable task of defending James for most of the game. He said no matter who he’s matched against, the key to good defense is concentrating on your assignment and playing with energy.
“It’s another game, it’s basketball. Whether you’re guarding (LeBron) or anybody else, you’ve got to be locked in the whole time,” O’Neale said. “It’s a team game. So you’ve got to focus on everybody else and focus on ourselves.”
He added that for the Jazz to play at the level that is expected, players will have to improve their interaction on the floor and play with greater energy early in the game.
“It’s just communicating on the defensive end, moving the ball on the offensive end and making things easier for everybody else,” O’Neale said. “We just kind of lost focus and we’ve got to get that back.”
“It’s us coming out with more of urgency. We can’t just wait till we get down. We’ve just got to have that from the jump — the same intensity the whole game,” he said. “Just help each other out, talk to each other more and basically be more alert and aggressive.”