The Utah Jazz have dropped their fourth-straight game after tonight’s loss against the Golden State Warriors. The final score was 140-124.
As is the case most nights, Utah struggled tremendously on defense.
Utah allowed Golden State to attempt 54 attempts from behind the arc, with the Warriors connecting on 43% of them. Sure, the Warriors lead the league in three-point attempts per game at 44.6, but the sheer number of open looks Utah allowed was astounding. The final score reflected those easy looks – it’s nearly impossible to win an NBA game when you give up 140 points. The Jazz can waive goodbye any aspirations of competing next season if this core defends this poorly, Walker Kessler healthy or not.
On a positive note, Ace Bailey has continued his impressive offensive play. He finished the night with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and one block. After failing to make much of an impact on the game outside scoring against the Los Angeles Clippers, Bailey made a great effort to crash the glass, find his teammates, and use his length to his advantage on defense. It is a disappointment that Bailey won’t get an opportunity to play during All-Star Weekend, but his development is promising.
Importantly, it seems the Jazz have heard the complaints about the in-arena audio. For the first time this season, it appears that there were moments without loud music and pumped-in crowed noise:
Hopefully this is a trend moving forward. Utah’s in-arena experience continues to be fairly lackluster. Eliminating the random high-hat soundtracks blaring in the background of every other possession is a step towards improving it.
The Jazz will face off against the Brooklyn Nets at home on Friday, January 30th before staring a five-game roadtrip.
