This past week in the NBA, there have been a handful of violent fights that broke out on the court. Not just players screaming at each other from across the sides, but full-on scuffles. With more stringent rules of the NBA, it’s a sight we don’t normally come across but something about the 2021-22 NBA campaign screams ‘not-normal’. Still, who would expect one player to end up in two, very intense fights in back-to-back games? Welcome aboard Utah Jazz’ Rudy Gobert.
Did Rudy Gobert not learn his lesson?
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When the Utah Jazz were playing the Indiana Pacers in their last game, they did not just lose the game, but fans witnessed an ugly brawl breaking out between Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner. After Turner’s brilliant block on his opponent, Gobert was falling to the floor, only to intentionally pull Myles down with him. And then, the wrestling match began.
It eventually led to the ejection of four NBA players, as teammates got involved. Joe Ingles even ended up shoving a referee on the court, which perfectly describes how wild the situation became.
The Jazz lost that game against the Pacers. However, fans were hoping they would start on a clean slate and get their rhythm back by winning against the Miami Heat. But that was probably too much to expect.
Not only did they lose this one as well, but a fight also broke out between Gobert and Heat’s Dewayne Dedmon. As Tyler Herro tried to take a shot, Dedmon and Gobert were standing below the bucket for a rebound. However, Utah’s center grabbed Dedmon instead, which pissed him off. And the whistles started to blow left-and-right. Before you know it, the two were at each other’s throats in anger.
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The Utah Jazz needs to bring their focus back
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This was a team that was right behind the Warriors standing in the second seed. But losing these two games has cost them their brilliant record, which has now turned into 8-5 and they have slid down to the sixth spot.
The Miami Heat completely dominated over them for the most part of the game. So, the Jazz’ incredible 36-16 comeback in the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to cover up the mess they earlier made. It was game over at 111-105, with South Beach putting an end to its losing streak.
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If you really think about it, the root cause of both fights has been Rudy. Unless he gets his behavior in control, the Jazz team as a whole could be the one facing its consequences. This only makes one wonder how many more tussles are we yet to see this season?
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