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In this era of pace and space, the Utah Jazz haven't had much of either.
But with a knee injury keeping Rudy Gobert from patrolling the paint, Quin Snyder's crew has had to adapt in a push to stay afloat until the center's return. And while they haven't gotten faster, they have at least for now traded Gobert's long arms for more long bombs.
"Yeah, they're good shots," said forward Gordon Hayward. "Teams are playing off us. Coach wanted us to be aggressive from the 3-point line or get to the basket and just be aggressive."
Making 36.3 percent of their attempts on the year, Utah actually owns the NBA's sixth-best 3-point percentage. But the Jazz have taken relatively few of them — at least until Gobert's injury, when the Jazz went from shooting about 19 3-pointers a game to 24.
Hayward on his own has helped account for some of that success. Utah's leading scorer was taking four shots from beyond the arc a game before Gobert went down with a grade-2 MCL sprain early this month. He's upped that number to 5.7 since and — even after an 0-for-5 clunker Wednesday night at Golden State — he has been shooting a solid 44 percent from deep in the 11 games without Gobert.
"I've been getting in the gym a little bit more, just continuing to shoot it," he said. "I think I've gotten some good looks and I've been able to knock them down. … Confidence is huge. Your shot is stronger and your form is truer. I think if you put in the work you should be confident no matter what."
But Gobert — and more specifically his absence — has made an impact, too. And while the Jazz will be glad to welcome their shot-blocking star back whenever his knee is fully healthy, they also see a slight offensive uptick as a sliver of a silver lining.
Utah hasn't picked up its clock-grinding pace, but its scoring has seen an uptick with Snyder using lineups with more shooting threats to create extra space on the floor.
"Spacing has been a big thing we've been talking about," guard Rodney Hood said. "Then just making a decision once you get the ball, whether you're shooting, passing or driving it. Not holding the ball and letting it stick."
The Jazz, who used a stellar defense and a middling offense to make a late-season push last year, believe their offense was making strides even before Gobert's injury. They topped 100 points in three straight games before his injury.
And while Gobert's return will obviously be a boost to a defense that has struggled in his absence, will the Jazz be able to maintain some of that extra offensive punch?
"When Rudy's back, the paint gets crowded on both ends of the floor," Snyder said. "On defense it's good. On offense we want to create movement and screening to mitigate that. I think it's just an awareness on the part of the guys that are in there. … Hopefully some of that will translate" when he returns.
Twitter: @tribjazz —
Clippers at Jazz
P Saturday, 7 p.m.
TV • ROOT Jazz vs. Clippers
P At Vivint Smart Home Arena
Tipoff • Saturday, 7 p.m.
TV • ROOT Sports
Radio • 1280 AM, 97.5 FM
About the Jazz • Coming off a 103-85 road loss to the first-place Warriors. … Snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Clippers with a win in Los Angeles in November. … Play five of their next six games at home.
About the Clippers • Blake Griffin and Chris Paul fuel the NBA's fifth-ranked offense. … Have lost three straight games coming into Friday's meeting with the Jazz. … Center DeAndre Jordan is second in the league in both rebounding (13.1 per game) and blocks (2.4 per game).