The Irony In Orlando: Pelicans-Jazz Recap

141 days ago, the NBA was shut down because Jazz Center Rudy Gobert, tested positive for COVID19. Gobert made the first points of the NBA Restart season. It was only right that he did it. On top of that, he also made the game winning Free Throw to give the Jazz a 106-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Gobert finished the night with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The Jazz started off hot against the Pelicans; however New Orleans had an 18-4 run to close the first quarter. The Jazz were down by 16 points at one point in the game; then in the fourth quarter the Pelicans gave it away, literally. The Pelicans had 20 team turnovers on the night. For a team that went 3-0 in the scrimmage games, they did not look like the same team. The big concern for the Pelicans was Zion Williamson who was a gametime decision. He played 15 minutes and scored 13 points. But why didn’t Zion play the final minutes? In Zion’s postgame conference he said, “It’s not even just conditioning; it’s just getting my flow to the game back.  This is the NBA, this is the best players in the world; and you want to feel comfortable.  I don’t want to hurt my team more than I helped them in a sense, if you understand me.”

The Jazz played well together. Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell both had 20 points and combined for 43% shooting from the field. The Jazz had a lot of extra hustle plays to create better and more opportunities to score.

The Pelicans are on the outside looking in, while the Jazz are currently the 4th seed in the West. It will be interesting to see how these two teams play down the road. 

The Jazz play Saturday afternoon against the Thunder, and the Pelicans play Saturday night against the Clippers. 

Featured image via YahooSports.com