New Orleans • It has been suggested that the ongoing saga of the uneasy, imperfect truce between superstar big man Anthony Davis and the Pelicans can’t help but be a distraction to that team.
And yet, it was the Jazz who gave an unfocused effort in Monday night’s stunning loss at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Days removed from significant wins against Denver and Milwaukee, Utah’s players said all the right things before facing New Orleans. Derrick Favors noted at the team’s morning shootaround the need to “come out and play hard and be focused every game, take every game like it’s the last game,” and that there would be no distinctions drawn between the playoff-bound Nuggets and Bucks, and the lottery-bound Pelicans: “We got to go in there and treat it like a playoff game.