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Quin Snyder won't say as much publicly, but he probably wishes Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan played for the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night against his Utah Jazz.
Had the three Clippers stars gotten onto the floor, the Jazz might have a more accurate guess on where they stand with just one more dress rehearsal remaining before the regular season begins next Tuesday night.
Without the Clippers' big three — who all sat out for various purposes — Monday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena was little more than a formality, as the Jazz defeated Los Angeles 104-78 in front of 18,811. Instead of a true test against one of the premier teams in the Western Conference, the Jazz received a team comprised of ill-inspired veterans.
And that's the hazard of the preseason.
"Those guys are going to play soon enough," Snyder said. "Sometimes it's good for some other guys to get a chance to play. They had a good team out there, those were NBA players. But we tried to make this game about us, about how we played. And I was pleased with the way we moved the ball, and I thought we really tried to guard defensively."
It's true that the Jazz were missing four rotation regulars of their own. Gordon Hayward, Rodney Hood, Derrick Favors and Alec Burks were all out. But with Hayward out for sure, along with Favors and Burks being question marks for the regular-season opener, the starting five Snyder sent out onto the floor was a lot closer to the one Doc Rivers trotted out.
It can be considered a positive that the Jazz never wilted and put the Clippers away from the outset. Utah's offense looked good among the regulars last week against the Phoenix Suns, and looked good again on Monday night against Los Angeles, with the ball moving around unselfishly, leading to easy shots from a variety of places.
And defensively — led by Rudy Gobert — the rotation regulars played about as well as possible, shutting down driving lanes and contesting shots at the rim. The Clippers not playing Paul or Griffin — two dynamic playmakers — did nothing for the Jazz in this regard. Without those two, the drop-off in the Clipper offense is quite significant. But last year, an issue with the Jazz was playing down to the level of the competition.
For one night — even if it's preseason — Utah didn't have that problem.
"We just tried to go out there and improve ourselves," Jazz forward Joe Johnson said. "We tried to improve as far as chemistry, and learning and developing on both ends. So in that sense, it wasn't about who we were playing or who was out there playing. We were trying to gain a sense of where we were as a team and as individuals."
Gobert continues to look dominant in limited minutes, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, both game-highs. Offensively, he's been far more active than he has at any point in his career.
The fourth-year center attributes his success to his offseason regimen that simply included playing a lot of basketball. And as always, Gobert is playing the game with a sizable chip on his shoulders.
"I really feel like I have something to prove," Gobert said. "Everyone says that all I am is just a shot blocker, and I want to go out there and prove them wrong."
The Jazz received 15 points and six assists from Dante Exum, who's continuing his strong preseason play. Shelvin Mack had 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting in 16 minutes, and George Hill had 11 points.
Austin Rivers led the Clippers with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.
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Storylines
R Utah moves to 3-2 on the preseason.
• The Jazz take control early, outscoring the Clippers 32-16 in the first quarter.
• Utah takes a preseason-high 26 3's, making nine.