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New York • Quin Snyder's biggest job in getting his Utah Jazz ready for Wednesday night's matchup with the New York Knicks may have had little to do with basketball.
Even professionals can have a headache from the kind of loss suffered Monday afternoon against the Charlotte Hornets: Rallying from from a sizable deficit, taking multiple overtime leads, and still coming up short.
So the biggest worry for Snyder on Tuesday was making sure his team moved on. It's a little easier to do after a blowout loss, because teams can resign themselves to defeat. But coming up short can be more mentally damaging.
"You're always aware of an emotional game, especially when you don't quite get it done," Snyder said. "It's a unique experience, win or lose, and I think the same logic applies to a win and a loss. So there's a lot of adjustment that goes into that, mentally."
The Jazz had a good, crisp shootaround on Wednesday morning, going over Knicks personnel, how to guard against Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis, and how to handle the ambiance of Madison Square Garden.
Players were in good spirits during pregame as well. Shooting guard Rodney Hood said he had a particularly good workout, and most said they had moved on from the Hornets loss, where Kemba Walker lit the Jazz up for a franchise-record 52 points.
If the first quarter indicated anything, Utah recovered well. The Jazz led 22-17 going into the second quarter, playing well defensively for the first 12 minutes and leading throughout the first three quarters before fading in the fourth quarter and losing in overtime.
Gobert and social media
On Tuesday night, Jazz center Rudy Gobert sent the following on Twitter: You can have good stats but hurt your team... numbers do lie sometimes. #onlypeoplethatknowthegameunderstandthat
Many wondered whom Gobert was speaking of. Orlando Magic center Nik Vucevic, a friend of Gobert, said over Twitter: "I think you should tell us who you're talking about, like a real man would," while most of social media began throwing names out in a speculative manner.
Gobert on Wednesday after shootaround told media he wasn't speaking on anyone specific, but stating a general theme.
"There's no one player that I'm speaking of," Gobert said. "There are a lot of good players in the NBA, so I was just speaking overall."
Many thought Gobert was speaking of Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who scored 23 points and grabbed 18 rebounds on Tuesday night in a loss. Whiteside and Gobert are thought to be two of the best defensive centers in the NBA. The two have played each other once, with Gobert getting the best of the matchup, which adds to the intrigue.
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