The Utah Jazz broke their three-game losing streak with an impressive come-from-behind win against the Boston Celtics 105-103.
The player of the game for the Jazz was, without question, Keyonte George.
George was a force on offense with 31 points on 9/16 shooting from the field and 2/5 from three. He was in command of the entire game, dishing out 4 assists, grabbing 5 rebounds with just 1 turnover. We’re seeing a significant leap from Keyonte George this year, which is extremely promising for the future. He has developed each season, and it’s got to be gratifying for the young guard to see the hard work pay off.
Lauri Markkanen had another solid night tonight with 20 points, but his percentages weren’t quite where you’d expect, going 7/17 from the field and 2/6 from three. The less-than-stellar numbers highlight how well George performed tonight, and that, if George plays like this, it makes this Jazz team dynamic enough to win games. Now, the Jazz may not want that in the short term to try and add more young talent, but seeing this team continue to develop shows that they are on the right track. A few wins along the way are good for them to see what it takes to get a win in the future.
It is worth mentioning that a prominent Jazz player was not playing tonight. Walker Kessler is being treated for bursitis in Utah, and it’s interesting that the Jazz defense looked impressive tonight. Holding a team to just 103 points on their home floor without Kessler might be a fluke, but it looked real tonight. The Celtics aren’t a great team, but they do have the potential to hit a lot of threes, and Utah kept them in check. It was also Jusuf Nurkic who hit the game-winning putback at the end. This could be just one game, but it’s something to watch going forward.
