A one-point loss at the horn — not a bad way to go for a team of the Utah Jazz’s standing. A needed loss to keep the locomotive from slinging off the rails on a short-sighted winning frenzy. Two straight
wins to open the season would have split Jazz fans into warring factions, each carrying a drastically different mantra on their banner.
104-105 final from Sacramento. A Keyonte George fallaway 2 missed everything on its descent, and the buzzer rang to a chorus of Kings faithful (there are dozens of them). But despite the final result, there are many reasons for viewers to hold their heads high, make outlandish claims on X, and delete those claims within the month. Did your favorite player show out? Did the stars shine bright? Did Cody Williams make an appearance (no)?
Here are the player grades from a chaotic night in Sac-Town.
Utah Jazz vs Sacramento Kings final player grades
Lauri Markkanen: A-
This was a Markkanen classic, despite an ugly line from beyond the three-point arc. The Finnisher was just 4-13 from deep, though his 3-6 second-half clip was indicative of his performance as a whole. 33 points on the night, but Lauri got it done from everywhere on the floor. Catch-and-shoot midrange jimbos: money. Put-back slams right on Demontis Sabonis’ head? European cash.
Lauri led the way for Jazz tonight, leading all scorers and knocking through some clutch free throws to take the lead with under 30 seconds remaining (thanks in part to Russell Westbrook getting a bit too antsy to attack the glass). A slow start in the first half transformed into a second-half clinic. Beautiful basketball.
Keyonte George: B+
Keyonte’s night was a classic example of “looks bad on paper, but great in action”. His shooting splits were far from efficient — 5-15 from the floor, 1-6 from deep — but he attacked the rim with confidence, hit timely free throws, and finished with 18 points. His defensive numbers won’t make your jaw drop, but he was clearly putting his heart into every on-ball assignment. That’s progress, no matter how marginal.
Most impressive, however, were his assist totals, racking up 10 dimes with 4 turnovers. It’s still early, but the Keyonte at point guard experiment is yielding promising results. If only he could score with more consistency…
Kyle Filipowski: B-
Not too much to dive into as far as Flip’s night went. 10 points, 4 assists, and 6 boards are all solid stats, and it’s the standard that he’s set for himself. Nothing bad to say about his night (at least on the offensive end), but not a mind-melting performance. To his credit, Flip led the Jazz in +/-, as he was +19 through 25 minutes.
Walker Kessler: C-
I am sorry to report that Walker Kessler did not hit any three-pointers during tonight’s action. On the bright side, he also didn’t miss any attempts from deep, retaining a 100% clip from distance on the year, thanks to last game’s 2/2 outing. He also only took one shot all game (which he converted, in all fairness) and was a general non-factor on offense.
Rebounding and defense are critical aspects of the game, and he delivered on those ends to his standard, with 3 steals and nine boards. His six turnovers are a stain on the box score, though, and we had to ding him for that sloppiness.
Svi Mykhailiuk: >:(
Nothing against Svi, by all accounts, he played fine tonight, but that’s just it: he’s playing fine. It’s tough to see him taking up playing time in the backcourt when the future of the Utah Jazz atrophies from the bench. If you want an actual grade, Svi’s 9 points earned him a C.
Ace Bailey: [REDACTED]
Call it a blind spot tied to my desire to see Ace succeed, call it excuse-making, but the effects of Bailey’s illness seem to be hanging around in his second regular-season outing with the Jazz. It’s MJ’s flu game, without any of the positives, I suppose. He was 0-for-5 from the field tonight, left the game with 0 points in 13 minutes, and seemed sluggish in his floor minutes. Under these conditions, I refuse to grade Bailey’s night. Sue me.
Brice Sensabaugh: B+
Ice Brice is a breath of fresh air. Pure scoring and unquestionable efficiency when the basketball leaves his fingertips. 54.5% shooting on the night with 42.9% efficiency from deep? Oh buddy, that’s what we like to see. Sensabaugh is continuing his trek to improvement and has emerged as one of Utah’s most reliable bucket-collectors. 15 points in 22 minutes just makes me angrier that Svi was cannibalizing Sensy’s minutes. I will not stand for this.
Taylor Hendricks: D
It wasn’t Hendricks’ night — plain and simple. He scored just once and failed to contribute in any meaningful way during his minutes. It wasn’t fun to see, and we hope that’s just a blip on the radar rather than a reversion to the mean. Get back on that horse.
Jusuf Nurkic: C+
Was he revolutionary? Don’t make me laugh, he was fine. That’s why Utah brought him in (besides obvious salary reasons in the Sexton trade), they need someone to be a sturdy presence on the court, and he did just that. But he did lead the Jazz in rebounding and deserves some praise as he collected 11 boards in just 18 minutes.
Walter Clayton Jr.: B+
Trading up to grab Clayton still seems to have been a great draft-day move for the Jazz. 10 points, 3 assists, and 5 rebounds? That’s good stuff, and the three-pointer is still stored away somewhere in the back. I, for one, cannot wait until we see a March Madness-esque heat-check from Clayton. It feels inevitable.
I’d like to request a brief moment of silence for Cody Williams, who did not make an appearance in tonight’s game.
[Simulated silence]
It’s starting to feel that Will Hardy is giving up on the Williams experiment in just his second year with the team. He hasn’t made many strides and may be fighting for non-garbage time minutes for much of the early season. It’s tough to see, and maybe it’s not too late for Cody to right the ship. But that’s been the operative word for those immersed in the Cody Williams experience: maybe.
Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.
