To say that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is disappointed after Friday's loss to the Phoenix Suns would be an understatement. Perhaps “appalled” is the right term after he observed that his team failed to compete in the absence of Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley.
With Mitchell (ankle) and Conley (hamstring) out in the game, the Jazz entered as huge underdogs against the Suns. However, as Gobert noted, they didn't put up a fight at all as Devin Booker and Co. pulled away with a 121-100 blowout victory to take the top-seed in the Western Conference.
Per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune, Gobert expressed his frustration after the contest and noted that they didn't take the game seriously because of their absences. Put simply, instead of testing themselves, the Jazz went into the contest expecting to lose.
Rudy Gobert said Friday was "frustrating" because "I don’t think we took it as seriously as we should." He thought it was a great chance for the Jazz to test themselves, but some players simply didn't ascribe any importance to the game because Mitchell and Conley were out.
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) May 1, 2021
Gobert's frustration is understandable, especially since the Jazz struggled from start to finish. After falling to a 16-point hole in the opening quarter, Utah just never recovered.
The Frenchman is equally to blame though, as he made just eight points on 3-of-4 shooting. He added 10 rebounds and three blocks, but he was -12 on the Plus-Minus box score. Bojan Bogdanovic led the way for Utah with 22 points, while Joe Ingles and Jordan Clarkson ended up with 12 apiece.
The Jazz probably got too comfortable with the fact that they have already secured a playoff berth. However, they likely forgot that the Suns have won their first two meetings (and now completed the sweep), which should only give Chris Paul, Booker and the rest of the squad some much-needed confidence booster ahead of the playoffs.
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