That was one of the strangest defensive efforts I’ve ever seen from an NBA team. Essentially, for much of the game, the Spurs played a triangle-and-two zone defense to prevent the Jazz’s star players from getting open while allowing Ricky Rubio, Jae Crowder, Derrick Favors, and Royce O’Neale to shoot wide-open threes.
The triangle-and-two is a gimmick defense, basically used way more in high school and college where more players can’t shoot. Essentially, the defense dedicates two guys to faceguarding the two stars, then aligns everyone else in a triangle zone that can sinks into the paint.