Rocky Mountain Review – Game 2 - Philadelphia 76ers vs Utah Jazz Game Summary

It was the best of halves; it was the worst of halves; as the Utah Jazz took a halftime lead of 45 -37; only to lose 100 – 85. The 76ers, on the back of sharp shooting John Cox and gritty, aggressive play of Louis Amundson; put themselves in a position to overcome their halftime deficit, and defeated the Jazz.

As I watched the first quarter; I was awe struck with how well Paul Milsap was playing. He played as though he was a man possessed; like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, minus the murderous tendencies of course. Paul fueled the Jazz to a seven point lead, while contributing eight points, two rebounds, two dimes, one blocked shot; and a biggie size drink and fries.

At the end of the first quarter I scribbled some notes; among which was that Philly was not impressive yet. Oh, how those words would come back to haunt me; a little psychic foreshadowing; (whispering) I see unavoidable losses.

In the second quarter, the 76ers began to become a little more aggressive; and also began hitting a few more shots. As the 76ers began to work themselves back into the game; the Jazz continued to be careless with the ball. My unofficial statistics had them at nine turnovers at half; with at least three notations in my notes where I marked bad pass, on which the ball knocked out of bounds or marked as a turnover. The Jazz survived the careless ball handling; and took a 45 – 37 lead into halftime.

The third quarter; was an entirely different 76ers team. It was apparent from the get go that the 76ers were going to come out attacking. In my notes, I talked about how the 76ers came out aggressive, and the only reason the Jazz were staying in the game was their ability to make shots while drawing fouls.

The sixers stayed aggressive, and rode on the backs of Jason Smith and John Cox. Jason Smith went off in the quarter making five of six baskets, as well as three of three from the line. At one point the 76ers went to him on three straight possessions in which he scored seven points for the team. Meanwhile John Cox went three for four; while hitting 2 for 2 behind the arch. The two combined for 19 points in the quarter; and helped the 76ers outscor the Jazz by thirteen; which gave them a 70-65 lead heading into the fourth.

Even with the lead, the 76ers didn’t let up in the fourth quarter, opening the final period with a 9 – 1 run extending the lead to 80 – 66. The 76ers ended with six players in double figures; John Cox lead the way with 20 points which was scored on 7 of 11 shooting and 4 for 4 beyond the arch. Louis Amundson, former Jazz man poured in 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds; while getting to the stripe 11 times in the game. Six out of the nine players who saw playing time in the game shot better than 50% from the field; and as a team they shot 69% from beyond the arch.

All 15 Jazz players played in the game, each scoring at least one point; Morris Almond lead the group with 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting. Paul Milsap turned in another impressive performance with 12 points, four rebounds, and one blocked shot; unfortunately for the Jazz, he was plagued with foul trouble most of the night.

The Jazz turned the ball over frequently during the game losing it 17 times, leading to 19 sixer points. On the other side of the ball, Philadelphia turned the ball over only nine times; which netted the Jazz six points.

A Little Deeper:

As with the game one summary, I want to provide the readers of tUtah Jazz Fan Addicts a little deeper look at the game. The statistics here aren’t ones you’ll find in any box score; but are used by many in the league to get a better sense for the game. The terms are explained here, RMR Game 1

Click on picture to enlarge

There are a couple of things here that interest me. First, Louis Amundson was out of control in this game; I have never seen efficiency above 1; so for him to have a 1.19 is amazing. The way that Larry Miller has described the efficiency statistic, and I'm paraphrasing, is that a .50 or better is super-star, .35 - .50 is all-star, .25 - .35 is a good player. Not a bad night for Louis then; but take it for what it worth, I’m sure had Louis played more minutes his efficiencey would have gone down.

Second, the Jazz had multiple players with high offensive ratings; which is points divided by possession then multiplied by 100; really this stat is just points per 100 possessions. I found it odd how many players for the Jazz were in triple digits here; but had low efficiencies. This is mostly due to these players having few possessions but taking full advantage by scoring on those possessions. The only player who might have been able to maintain his rating is Paul Milsap.

Unlike the previous game; in which the Jazz and Atlanta had very similar team statistics; the 76ers clearly dominated the team statistics. They had four more scoring possessions; were more efficient in scoring on their possession as indicated by their floor percentage; and received high quality contributions from five players. Although it is hard to determine; you could make an argument that Philadelphia was able to do so well; because it left its high efficiency players in the game. Conversly, the Jazz made several substitutions; which in many cases brought in players who were less efficient than those they replaced.

Will be back shortly with a game three summary. FYI, expect game four on Thursday. I will be in attendance for Tuesday’s game; and won’t be taking furious notes and tracking as usual and will need time to review it on the DVR.