Houston Rockets: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Jazz
By Chris Conner
2. The Jazz are missing their floor general
Say what you want about Ricky Rubio, but he has been wonderful for the Jazz this season.
After struggling earlier offensively, Rubio found his stroke and showed even more improvement defensively. The Rockets were going to be a handful no matter who suited up, but it’s obvious the grass is greener with Rubio currently sidelined.
Interesting how quickly we’ve gone from you can’t win in playoffs with Ricky Rubio as your PG (and it wasn’t just Thibs it was fans and many others) to the Jazz have no chance w/o him.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) April 29, 2018
The Jazz have been called the Boston Celtics of the West due to their sense of team basketball and fantastic coaching. Overcoming injuries may come with that title. Houston just isn’t the team to play while wounded.
Without Rubio, the Jazz lose their best passer and playmaker as they don’t have many other players capable of accomplishing similar feats consistently.
That leaves more pressure on Rookie of the Year candidate Donovan Mitchell. Joe Ingles provided his assistance, but the Jazz offense will start and end with Mitchell right now. He’s proven capable of stepping up before in tough circumstances, but this task may be too tall to handle alone or with just one additional hand.