David Locke Jazz PXP Man Clippers

· The Clippers game wore both the Jazz and the Clippers out. Both teams fell by 20 tonight and both were on empty by the 2nd half.

· The key portion of the game was late in the 3rd quarter when the Jazz went to the bench late in the 3rd quarter and the Warriors went on a 11-2 run. I said at the time on the broadcast that the game would be decided by how long the young crew could keep the Jazz in the game and if they could give Millsap and Jefferson enough rest to get the game to the final 5 minutes. They weren’t able to get it done. 

· The Jazz bigs looked like their legs were dead tonight. The defensive rebounding was abysmal. They lacked bounce. The amount of reaching plays rather than foot moving and rebounds hoping the ball would come to them rather than going to get the ball were the obvious sign of fatigue

· The concern is the Jazz haven’t started the exhausting part of the season yet. However, you can see fatigue setting in. The Jazz don’t have generally regarded in the top 20 or maybe even top 30 in the NBA so they have to battle and give every ounce of energy to win games, stay in games and battle to the end. This means they could fatigue worse than some other teams. One point that has been made by numerous people to me this year is that the for guys like LeBron or Durant or other stars 35 minutes for them is not as tiring as 35 minutes for Millsap, Hayward or Jefferson. The stars aren’t being pushed as hard in those minutes. 

· Fatigue is going to be the #1 storyline for the next 60 days. I believe the Jazz play 9 home games in the next 60 days. 

· Gordon Hayward’s game plan on Monta Ellis was to stay in front of him, play him into a jump shooter and keep him off the foul line. For the most part he did that but Monta who had been slumping for the last three games got it going. He hit jumper after jumper and he was simply too good. The only change Gordon will make the next time is to show him some different looks as the night goes on so he can’t get into a rhythm.

· Alec Burks played some point guard tonight. He faired ok in the first half but the game got away in the 2nd half. He has to learn what he can and can’t do in the NBA because he is wasting too many possessions. However, all the talent is there. Everything I loved about him on draft night is still evident.

· The jazz bench did not have an assist tonight

· Jamaal Tinsley is a great luxury to have as your third point guard. He had the game in control and set a Jazz season high for assists in a game. He was kept the tempo and kept the game in the Jazz fashion for the first half.

· CJ Miles just can’t buy a three point shot. He is in a considerable slump from three and he is still all over the spectrum night to night. He has a tougher role when Howard is playing because he gets a little less time but tonight with Howard starting the hope would be he could have found a rhythm.

· Watson and Bell are the leaders of this team when it comes to attitude and setting the tone that was missed tonight’

· Missing two players at the same position is always incredibly difficult to overcome. 

Last note - to start the year I had the Jazz in the quest to 33 wins splitting the two games at Golden State - that is what they did and tonight helps the chances of the Jazz getting the Warriors draft pick.