This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
On Wednesday night, the Utah Jazz played their best game of the season, making shots offensively while playing stifling defense. As a result, they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers.
Now, the trick for the Jazz is bottling that execution on both ends of the floor and performing that way consistently.
Through 14 games, seven away and seven at home, consistency has eluded Quin Snyder's team. The win over the Clippers is the most notable night where the Jazz have truly put it all together.
"If we duplicate that for the rest of the season, we become a good team," Snyder said. "We're not there yet and we've been up and down the last two weeks. I think with this team, we look at it and we try and get better. We feel like we can play better and that's the goal."
Specifically, Snyder wants to see less lulls in play, such as the second quarters against the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder. He wants to see star forwards Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors show the ability to take over every night. He wants to see the defense show the same kind of lockdown ability it did against the Clippers.
Snyder is challenging a young team to reach new heights. He knows the best teams attain a level of play and stay on that level, even through a few losses. It's that level that defines teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors.
"It's a process, but that's our goal, to play 48 minutes," Jazz shooting guard Rodney Hood said. "The last five games, the ones that we've lost we've had one quarter where we just let up big time and we can't do that. We're very aware of it, and we watch a lot of film to see the places we can get better."
Missing an anchor
The Jazz were without Favors on Saturday night against New Orleans. Their star power forward missed the game with an excused absence for personal reasons. Meanwhile, New Orleans superstar Anthony Davis was active, one night after suffering a knee contusion against the Clippers.
Showing up
Hayward is averaging 24.4 points in his past five games against the Pelicans. The Jazz small forward on Saturday night was guarded by a combination of Alonzo Gee and Dante Cunningham.
twitter: @tjonessltrib