Derrick Favors continues solid run of play since trade deadline in Utah Jazz's win over LA Clippers

SALT LAKE CITY — At this point, it has become rather automatic, like a light switch turning on with a simple flip.

When Utah Jazz starting center Rudy Gobert picks up his second foul early in games, Derrick Favors, who serves primarily as Gobert's backup, has a penchant for raising his game to another level to help keep the Jazz alive without their star big man.

On Wednesday night as Utah took on the LA Clippers at Vivint Arena, Favors played out the scenario once again.

With 2:16 remaining in the first quarter and the Jazz trailing 29-19 after a bad start, Gobert picked up his second foul of the night when he elbowed his way into Clippers reserve big man Montrezl Harrell.

Despite having two fouls of his own, Favors likely would have entered the game around this juncture anyway, but whether he was motivated by Gobert's foul trouble or not, the veteran certainly produced in the final minutes of the frame.

In that stretch, he scored four points and pulled down a rebound as Utah cut the deficit to seven. Then in the first four minutes of the second quarter, the Georgia Tech product was dominant, compiling four points, four rebounds and two blocks.

For the night, Favors finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, a steal and an assist in 22 minutes of play. It marked the third time since the NBA's trade deadline on Feb. 7 that Favors has finished with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in a game. He has 10 such games on the season, seven of which have come since the calendar turned to 2019.

"I've been waiting for Rudy to get in foul trouble," Favors joked after the contest.

More seriously, Favors said he doesn't typically feel any extra sense of urgency when Gobert has to exit a game at an unexpected time, and noted how he himself wasn't free of fouls.

"That's just my mindset every game, just to come out and be aggressive," he said. "If he's in foul trouble, I've just got to make sure that I'm ready to go. It's vice versa, too. When I get in foul trouble, he steps his game up, too. Just being ready."

Gobert felt the same way.

"I think he's been very consistent, whether I get in foul trouble or not," the Frenchman said. "Every time he's on the court, he's had a very good impact. That's what we need from him."

Although both the Jazz and Clippers rosters are almost completely different from the 2017 playoffs, Favors' performance Wednesday, particularly in the first half, did bring to mind the way he performed in that series as Gobert missed most of it because of injury.

Favors said he didn't think about that, though.

"That's just me playing hard," he said. "I don't base my game off that. Just me playing hard and just trying to make an impact on the game. Just have fun."

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2IF0WcF