Amid a struggle on the offensive end, the Utah Jazz managed to squeeze out a victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday. According to center Rudy Gobert, the ‘ugly' win proves that the Jazz are legit.
Per Eric Walden of The Salt Late Tribune, Gobert acknowledged the offensive struggles against the Knicks. Despite this, they made it up on the defensive end of the court, proving that they can still win despite not playing the perfect game.
“That's exactly what we talked about the 1st time we played the Knicks. Even nights when we struggle offensively, we can still be in position to win the game … It’s really who we are, and now we understand it and embrace it more than ever.”
Rudy Gobert, on the Jazz winning ugly: "That's exactly what we talked about the 1st time we played the Knicks. Even nights when we struggle offensively, we can still be in position to win the game … It’s really who we are, and now we understand it and embrace it more than ever."
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) January 27, 2021
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder echoed Gobert's sentiments. The Jazz just weren't clicking on the offensive end. But Snyder's team made an effort on the other aspects of the game.
Quin: "We didn’t have as much energy as we wanted tonight … but it was just a really good effort. People talk about winning ugly, and tonight, ‘ugly’ was really pretty."
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) January 27, 2021
The Jazz's troubles were apparent in the opening quarter as they scored just 18 points. This trend continued the entire game as they shot just 40.2 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from downtown.
But as Gobert pointed out, he and his teammates picked up the slack by working double time on defense as they forced the Knicks to 12 turnovers.
Gobert, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, had a monster game with 18 points, 19 rebounds, two assists, and four blocks. Royce O'Neal came up big with 20 points while Mike Conley chipped in 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
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