The Utah Jazz didn’t have enough to take out the Milwaukee Bucks, who now have Giannis Antetokounmpo back. With Giannis, the Bucks were able to consistently build leads against the Jazz, but would lose those leads in the minutes that Giannis was off the court. It’s a successful end for the Bucks, who win 113-99 and are clawing their way to a potential play-in game.
The Jazz, who are currently 5th in the lottery standings, are inching towards the end of the season as they will very likely keep their
pick. They just have to keep their focus as they make sure to stay as close to the top spot in the lottery as they possibly can.
It’s not just losing that is the focus of this team, though. Utah is getting invaluable development time for players that wouldn’t get it otherwise. Cody Williams had the first double-double of his career tonight with 13 points and 11 rebounds. That freedom to develop is giving him a chance to grow in ways he never would if the Jazz were not focused on development. Williams will need to improve his shooting but this season has shown how he can be a contributing player, especially on the defensive end.
Ace Bailey is also receiving much needed development minutes and it’s paying dividends. His percentages weren’t good tonight but he’s also learning to contribute in ways other than just scoring. Bailey had three assists tonight on a random Saturday night in the NBA. In college, Bailey had four total games with three assists. He’s doing things now with regularity that were not happening before. For the season, Bailey is averaging 1.7 assists in 26 minutes per game. In college, Bailey averaged 1.3 in 33 minutes per game. It’s an uptick worth watching and shows that Bailey is playing a more winning style of basketball. The eye test is especially good with Bailey. He looks like a player that is figuring out how to do more and more each night and the freedom to experiment and work on his weaknesses will make him that much better next season.
Finally, we got to see Keyonte Geoge today and it was a tough shooting night, something that seemed to be a recurring theme for everyone on the team. That said, George got to the line all night and took 13 free throws. That ability to get to the line is elite and makes up for when he has bad shooting games like this one. The Jazz have to shoot the ball better next season, and that will likely be the thing that changes lineups the most, but they are figuring out how to do all the other things that help you win games. That experience will pay off in a big way next season when the Jazz become a winning team in the league.
