Utah Jazz

Because the Jazz are one of the best offensive teams in the league, they were able to run away with the victory Tuesday.

I tried to take some of the stuff I knew that he liked to do in the second half. “They live in transition, and they live on basically getting the ball on the rim and rebounding the miss and getting putbacks. The irony of the Jazz trading away [Rudy Gobert](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/rudy-gobert-HoB7w4Z5ROZnzHO4/) in the offseason is they might have traded for a guy who shares some of the same characteristics Gobert showed as a young player a decade ago. The Jazz know every night isn’t going to look like it did Tuesday defensively. Normally, the Jazz are one of the worst teams in the league in defensive transition, so a missed shot for Utah on the offensive end usually turns into a fast-break layup. But they are one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the league, so normally they would surrender a second and third shot on many possessions. Because the Jazz are one of the better teams in the league in half-court defense, they force misses. What the Jazz accomplished Tuesday night was proving to themselves that they can do it defensively. And they happened to do it against the team with the best record in the Western Conference. They ran the Pelicans off the 3-point line and at the same time made their presence felt defensively at the rim. The Jazz held the Pelicans to 4-of-27 shooting from 3-point range. For the vast majority of the season, something has always been missing, whether it be a lack of getting back in transition, a lack of rebounding, a lack of rim protection or a lack of containing the basketball off the dribble.

After missing three games with an illness, Utah's Lauri Markkanen showed little rust in scoring 19 points, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker also scored 19 and had a ...

.. The Jazz are 12-6 when Markkanen and Mike Conley are in the starting lineup together. ... Utah matched its third-quarter season high with 39 points and held the Pelicans to 15 second-quarter points, the fewest the Jazz have allowed in that period this season. ''To have six guys in double figures and 31 assists shows that we played together on the offensive end,'' Utah coach Will Hardy said. ... The Pelicans forced 22 turnovers but gave up 26 points on 17 of their own giveaways. Williamson is scoring a league-high 22 points per game in the paint but played just 11 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. The Jazz scored the final eight points of the third quarter, capped by Jordan Clarkson's 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 91-71. ''We got to step on the court and step on the floor and understand that teams are gonna come after us, just like we go after teams,'' New Orleans coach Willie Green said. New Orleans finished 4 of 27 from beyond the arc and shot 39.8% overall. That's our best defensive game for the season as a team.'' Walker Kessler was one key to the disruption with 11 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and three blocked shots. We are more worried about Zion killing us in the paint than we are about them shooting well from 3,'' Kessler said. Only one of those wins came on the road, where New Orleans is 6-6.

Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, center, head coach Will Hardy, forward Simone Fontecchio (16) and fans celebrate after the team's win over the Golden State Warriors ...

With the Jazz having just rebranded, there’s still a whole lot out there with the previous color scheme, as well as the new one. Birthdays are a common time to do this, but they can also be done for other special occasions. A cornhole game set? Some of the more notable ones include current team broadcaster Thurl Bailey, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Georges Niang and Jared Butler. A cellphone case? Do take care to ensure that you are purchasing from a legitimate site, however.