With 5:33 left in the fourth quarter against the Trail Blazers, Thabo Sefolosha subbed in for Derrick Favors, giving Utah a four-wing lineup. For the remaining 10:33 of game time until Utah won, there were no substitutions.
With Joe Johnson out for the next two weeks, was Quin Snyder planning to close the game playing small?
“No, we’re playing basketball,” he said. “The game sometimes dictates that.”
The Jazz (5-3) aren’t committed to any hard counts for any kind of lineups, not even with the absence of Johnson who has embedded himself into the closing group since joining the club in 2016. While playing Rudy Gobert, Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles and Sefolosha may have worked against the Blazers, Snyder said he’s not committed to keep closing with it.
“We’re going to try to play the guys who are most effective for us at a given time,” he said. “The other night, that happened to be with Thabo and Joe.”
Rodney Hood’s poor shooting night helped the Jazz make the decision to keep in Mitchell, who has played well during Utah’s homestand. Sefolosha’s defense on Damian Lillard made him invaluable, denying 3-point looks before Lillard drove in to be blocked by Gobert at the end of regulation.
But Snyder said while smaller opposing lineups may often encourage the Jazz to play smaller themselves, that’s not a hard and fast rule.
“We won’t necessarily chase lineups either,” he said. “If a team has a shooting four, small ball four, that doesn’t mean Derrick Favors doesn’t play. That means Derrick Favors has to do different things on the court.”
Utah hopes to have everyone on the court (except for Dante Exum and Johnson) tonight at 7 p.m. against the Toronto Raptors (4-3) in the final match of a four-game homestand at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz have yet to lose at home.
Sefolosha said that the unbeaten streak at the Viv doesn’t add much pressure to the team.
“We don’t think too much in that aspect,” he said. “We just want to protect home court every game. We want to come and establish the same mindset, the same type of energy we displayed. That’s really what we gotta do every game.”
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