The Utah Jazz picked up their second-straight win on a SEGABABA (second night of a back-to-back) against the San Antonio Spurs with a final score of 127-114.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the night:
Keyonte George, once again
George’s third-year leap is real. His name should be right at the top of any Most Improved Player of the Year ballot, in consideration for an All-Star slot, and, if this type of play continues, be involved in All-NBA conversations.
After a slow first-half, George led Utah’s offensive creation in the
fourth, finishing the night with 28 points, five rebounds, and six assists. In his first two seasons, George was at risk of turning in to a shot chucker rather than an offensive engine. But again and again, through tightening up his handle this offseason (among many other improvements), George has shown the ability to break down opposing defenses, touch the paint, and then either finish with a soft floater or find an open teammate.
Together with Lauri Markkanen (who finished the night with 29 points, five rebounds, and three steals), the duo is truly emerging as a threatening core. When George plays at this level, the Jazz seem closer to playing competitive than originally thought.
Collier, Clayton Jr. bench play
Speaking of breakout seasons, both Isaiah Collier and Walter Clayton Jr. have played impressively as of late.
Collier, who struggled to start the season after a hamstring injury, has played extremely composed over the last month. Tonight’s stat-line won’t blow anyone away: seven points, four assists, and four turnovers. Obviously, thats too many turnovers, but Collier has truly solidified three NBA-level skills: speed with the ball, passing, and controlling an offense. Last season, the first two skills were often put on display, but Collier often struggled actually controlling the tempo of an offense under his command. This season, he’s gotten much better at leveraging his speed and strength to change tempo, navigate screens, touch the paint (despite defenders going under) and finding teammates with an advantage. The shooting must improve, but he has a real foundation.
Clayton Jr., who has been in-and-out of the rotation as of late, exploded off the bench with 17 points, two rebounds, and five assists. Clayton Jr. hit open threes, found teammates on lobs (shoutout to Cody Williams for an impactful game), and repeatedly put Spurs defenders on their back-foot. This type of poise is why the Jazz lauded him so heavily out of college and it is great to see it in effect.
Play-In vs. Lottery update
Tonight’s win put the Jazz in no man’s land for making either of the pro-tank or pro-win fanbases happy. Their 12-19 record gives them the 8th best lottery odds, treacherous territory for losing their top-8 protected first-round pick to the OKC Thunder.
On the flip-side, as the 11th seed in the Western Conference, the Jazz are just outside of the Play-In. If the season ended today, there is chance the Jazz would miss all post-season play while losing their draft pick. Not great.
However, taking a glass half full perspective, the Jazz have the ability to choose their route now with ease. On the tank side, only a couple of games separate the Jazz from bottom-five territory. On the win-now side, the Jazz are wining games because of the great play of their youth and could quite easily pass the slipping Portland Trail Blazers for a Play-In spot and become post-season bound.
The Jazz should probably lose. Still, there are worse things than winning games because your draft picks are starting to pan out.
