In a final tune-up before it counts, the Jazz traveled down to Phoenix to take on Devin Booker and the Suns. Both teams trotted out their probable starting lineups for the regular season and played them for about half the game.
First Quarter
Darryn Petersen and Jaylen Green opened the scoring with a pair of buckets. Lauri Markkanen and Green traded threes, followed by an Al Jefferson-esque back-to-the-basket turnaround shot, and the Jazz held a 9-7 lead at the 8:45 mark. The teams continued to go back and forth,
and Phoenix knotted the score at 11. Ace Bailey checked in at the 8-minute mark. Keyonte tried to feed him inside but traveled during the effort, giving the ball back to the Suns. A brick on their end led to a foul and free throws for Lauri Markkanen, and then an errant behind-the-back pass by Jaylen Green led to a DP-Ace alley-oop, giving the Jazz a 4-point lead at the first timeout.
Collin Gillespie fouled Keyonte out of the timeout, but Key missed both free throws. Devin Booker hit two on the other end to cut the Jazz lead in half, answered by a nice floater by Jaxon Hayes. As the score see-sawed, DP checked out with 4:52 left, posting a line of 4/2/2. Devin Booker hit a deep three, bringing the Suns within one and prompting a timeout from Will Hardy. Out of the timeout, Svi Mykhailiuk missed a three, which was put back by Ace Bailey. A Suns turnover led to a Jazz bucket on the other end, stretching the lead to 5. Duop Reath hit a three, Ace hit two free throws, and a scuffling Keyonte George checked out. He had 0/0/2, plus a steal and a turnover.
The Jazz went ice-cold from beyond the arc, leading to three straight empty trips, answered by the Suns laying bricks too. JJJ finally hit a triple at the 1:20 mark, stretching the lead back to 5. Ace Bailey split a pair of free throws, which he earned from a nifty outlet pass by Isaiah Collier. Svi fouled Jordan Goodwin, Ace fouled Collin Gillespie, and their free throws cut the lead to one. Miles Bridges thought he’d given the Suns the lead with 11 seconds left, but his putback was waved off with 11 seconds left due to basket interference. The Jazz failed to convert on offense, and they exited the 1st quarter clinging to a 1-point advantage.
2nd Quarter
JJJ continued the Jazz drought by missing a contested shot at the rim out of the break. Phoenix responded with a three by Goodwin, giving them their first lead of the game. After trading bricks, Brice Sensabaugh regained it for the Jazz, hitting a silky deep ball from the left corner. A Reath miss led to a Collier drive to the rim, on which he was fouled. He hit both free throws. Miles Bridges continued to keep the Suns close, getting into his bag and hitting a tough hook shot inside. After trading a JJJ alley-oop for another Reath three-pointer, Will Hardy took the first timeout of the quarter with the teams tied at 38.
Isaiah Collier quarterbacked the offense out of the timeout, but it was Brice who found Svi for a 3-pointer out of the timeout, which was quickly answered by Bridges. Brice tried a three of his own at the other end, and despite some hard hustle by Svi to grab the rebound, he was tagged with a loose ball foul. Each team posted an empty trip, And JJJ officially got himself into foul trouble, using his third foul on Khaman Maluach. After yet another turnover by the Jazz, Miles Bridges nailed a 3-pointer, giving the Suns a 5-point lead. Josh Okogie hit a vicious dunk, but Jordan Goodwin continued the Phoenix rain of threes. Utah’s shooting woes did not let up, and by the 3:53 Mark the Suns took a 58-49 lead, the largest of the night to that point by either team. But the Jazz kept scrapping, led by a pair of threes by Lauri Markkanen, and found themselves down 7 at the half, 59-65.
3rd Quarter
Darren Petersen found Keyonte George for three on the first possession of the 3rd, cutting the Suns’ lead in half—briefly. Khaman Maluach threw down a strong dunk to answer. A pair of turnovers by the Jazz and a three by Dillon Brooks stretched the lead to 8, and a bucket by Booker off a deflection put them up 10. The Suns continued to get favorable bounces, the Jazz continued to scuffle, and by the 8:27 mark the Suns increased their lead to 13. Utah bounced back quickly, with JJJ and Ace going on a mini 5-0 run. JJJ committed a reach-in foul with 8:02 remaining, giving him four, and another with 7:50 left. Both were relatively soft, but with 5 fouls he had to exit the game. He was replaced by a tired, discombobulated Jaxon Hayes, who promptly passed the ball out of bounds.
Utah continued to fail to convert after a pair of empty Phoenix trips and found themselves down by double digits yet again after a Jaylen Green jumper. Keyonte drew a foul at the other end, Phoenix called timeout, and Key hit them both. DP and Dillon Brooks exchanged threes, Utah and Phoenix exchanged frenetic turnovers, and DP hit Lauri for a nasty throwdown.
Brooks answered by razzle dazzling Lauri on the other end, hitting a contested jumper, Keyonte turned the ball over, and Jaylen Green was fouled by Peterson. He split his free throws, putting Phoenix up 11 at the 4:55 mark. At the 4:02 mark, Isaiah Collier checked in for Keyonte. Dillon Brooks hit yet another tough jumper off an offensive rebound, extending the Suns lead to 13. Lauri responded with two free throws for his 18th and 19th points.
A pair of Jaxon Hayes free throws cut the lead to single digits. Despite another offensive rebound, the Suns failed to answer. A Brice Sensabaugh shot from downtown prompted a Phoenix timeout, and the score stood at 83-89 with 1:58 left in the quarter. Out of the timeout, Ryan Dunn found Miles Bridges for what looked like an easy layup, but Brice blocked it and nailed a triple on the other end. Just like that, the Jazz found themselves on the positive end of a 10-0 run. Jaxon Hayes, fouled on the rebound, extended that to 12-0. Duop Reath, the beneficiary of a soft call underneath the basket, missed two free throws. But the Jazz forgot that you have to box out, so it was Jordan Goodwin who stopped the bleeding with an offensive rebound and layup. Jamaree Bouyea went on a mini 4-0 run by himself to end the quarter, leaving the Jazz down by 5 heading into the 4th.
4th Quarter
The Jazz held the Suns to a long, desperate three out of the break, but they also yielded an offensive rebound. This time, Koby Brea made them pay from deep. Brice Sensabaugh answered with a smooth baseline fadeaway and a tough 3-pointer, bringing the Jazz within 3. By this time, it was bench against bench, and it showed. The Jazz gave up three straight offensive rebounds and the Suns couldn’t capitalize. Ace Bailey drew a foul on a Eurostep, baiting Koby Brea into a foul. He hit both shots from the charity stripe, pulling Utah within one. At the 8:28 mark we got our first Kyle Filipowski sighting of the season, new number (2) and all. He promptly forced a turnover and took it to the other end for two, giving the Jazz their first lead since the 2nd quarter, and Phoenix called timeout.
Koby Brea committed an offensive foul out of the break, and the Jazz took over. Josh Okogie got stuffed on a drive, but the Jazz retained possession and Flip converted again. The Suns, ice-cold, missed on the other end, Koa Peat picked up a foul, but the Jazz turned it over on the other end. After an empty Suns trip, Josh Green made them pay on the other end, extending the Jazz lead to 104-98. The teams traded awkward sequences, but Jamaree Bouyea took it to the Jazz, scoring and assisting his way to a 105-104 Suns lead with around 4 minutes left. DP responded on the other end, the Suns failed to answer, and DP got blocked. Bouyea continued to give the Jazz fits, drawing a foul on Brice Sensabaugh as he scored. He missed the subsequent free throw. Josh Green made Koa Peat look silly on the other end, drawing an and-1 of his own. He hit his free throw and Phoenix called timeout.
Koa Peat scored out of the timeout, and both teams emptied their bench. Harrison Ingram checked in for Brice, and DP was the only starter for either team on the floor. He put the Jazz back up 2 with 2:07 left, and they would not trail the rest of the way.
Josh Green put them up 4 at the 1:38 mark with a free throw line jumper. The teams continued to trade blows, and with under a minute remaining the Jazz clung to a 115-113 lead. Flip caught a mismatch in the paint and bullied Bouyea for a relatively easy bucket. Koby Brea missed his shot, DP lost the ball out of bounds, and the refs ruled it Jazz ball. The Suns challenged, and it turned out that he lost it because Pat Spencer fouled him. He hit both free throws and the Jazz went up 6. Pat Spencer hit a three on the other end, the Jazz turned it over on the inbound, but the Suns couldn’t get another shot off and the Jazz held on, 119-116
Notes:
- Darren Peterson continued to impress with 13/6/6 (on 12 shots, but still). We are so used to hearing “He’s pretty raw but the tools are there” or “Watch out for this guy in two years.” He looks like he belongs because he does belong. When everyone else was a bench player he clearly outclassed them.
- Brice Sensabaugh scorched the Suns. He put up 16 points on 9 shots in just 17 minutes. He he will be a force off the bench this year.
- Josh Green looks like an NBA player. Is he a starter? Not unless things go very, very sideways. But can he give the team 10 decent minutes off the bench? Yes. He finished with 8 points on 3-4 shooting in 8 minutes.
- The Jazz gave up 20 offensive rebounds and only grabbed 9 themselves. That probably led to their defeat had the Suns played their starters more.
- Keyonte started slow, but he finished with a respectable 13 points on 7 shots.
- JJJ and Jaxon Hayes combined for 9 fouls, which also would have proved difficult to overcome in a real game.
- The preseason is over. From here on out, the games count. Next up is a tilt with the Grizzlies in Memphis on Wednesday, October 21st!
