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It’s down to the nitty gritty here in Jazz Nation. The playoffs are out-of-sight, the injuries are stacking, and the league is zeroed-in and hoping to make a don’t-tank example out of us. Do we continue losing naturally (which I still believe we have been doing) or do we put all of our chips in and be awful-awful. In a draft that features historic freshmen depth across the board, this team would be stupid to not do everything in their power to be as high up on the lottery odds as possible.
And yes, we definitely are still losing. Against one of the top teams in the Western Conference and the entire league, the Jazz trotted out a hodge-podge team of youth and G-leaguers (plus Keyonte George) and lost in a surprisingly competitive game 128-125 to the Denver Nuggets.
This was essentially a duel of two hot shooting guards in Jamal Murray (45 points with 8 threes) and Keyonte (36 points, 14-22 and 4-9 from three). The Jazz quite nearly stole this one straight out from under Murray and an undermanned Denver Nuggets team, but Nikola Jokic called the fix in and flopped his way to the victory. Seriously, though, there were some egregious calls down the stretch and in the final seconds involving the Joker.
But, what an incredible game to showcase this young Jazz team and some of the lesser-known gems currently being crafted by the development staff. Elijah Harkless is a menace on the defensive end and truly had some game-breaking steals. He could prove to be a keeper on a contending team.
There were also some great Kyle Filipowski moments, some hot-shooting from Svi, and a beautiful late three pointer from Ace Bailey. It was good to see the team clicking and especially great to see how excited the bench was getting, specifically Jaren Jackson Jr. This team could really be something next year.
But the true star was our budding superstar Keyonte George, showcasing toughness, insane shot-making, and a lot of heart late in that 4th quarter. The refs took it away in the end, but this team has nothing to be ashamed of with that effort against one of the best teams in the entire NBA.
Jazz are back at it again on Wednesday against the 76ers in Philly. After this loss, they drop to 18-43 on the season and currently have the 5th best odds in the lottery against Washington, Brooklyn, Indiana, and Sacramento.