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Gabby Hundman

A week full of dimes, put-backs, and oops! Presented by Wasatch Ford

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Dimes & Dunks | #DunksOfTheWeek

Ryan Kostecka

Riding a four-game losing streak and with their top four scorers all sitting in street clothes on the bench, Utah had an uphill climb if they would get back to their winning ways.&nbsp;

Turns out that Talen Horton-Tucker was ready for the moment.&nbsp;

Behind a career-high 41 points from Horton-Tucker and an impressive debut by Luka Samanic, Utah stayed afloat in its push for the postseason by pulling away in the fourth quarter to pick up the 128-117 win over San Antonio.

"A good bounce back win for us," head coach Will Hardy said. "I think our guys have been playing really hard lately, they've stayed committed to what we're doing. They've done it as a group and it's good for them to see the reward of that by getting a win."

1.) Talen Is TALENtedHorton-Tucker finished with 41 points on 15-of-25 shooting, 6-of-11 from deep, and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. He also added four rebounds and one steal. 

Apart from knocking down an early three, he did a sensational job of getting downhill early and often. Using his strength and length, he could get off any shot at the rim, as San Antonio had no answer for him. After attacking so much, it opened up his shooting from beyond the arc as he could step into threes.&nbsp;

Beyond the scoring, the best part of the night is that he still finished with five assists. It showed his growth and maturity as he played under control and kept his teammates involved.&nbsp;

"Seeing the shots starting to fall early really gave my confidence a big boost," he said. "I was just trying to keep the defense guessing, staying consistent at all three levels, and be aggressive. … I feel like if I come out and do all those three things, I'll be successful on the court."

2.) Second Unit ScoringFollowing Monday's loss to Phoenix, Hardy spoke with media postgame about Utah's need to do something with its second unit if they would stay competitive in its postseason chase. 

"We've got to figure out offensively what we're going to do with that group to try to generate some easier baskets," he said. "Some of that's gonna take a little bit of time, but we don't have time. … We've got to figure out a way as a staff to help that group generate some better shots. We may need to look at changing up the substitution patterns a little bit and trying to mix that group some."

Whatever changes Hardy and his staff made, they worked against the Spurs.&nbsp;

Utah got 58 points from its bench, including double-figuring scoring outputs from Kris Dunn, Udoka Azubuike, and Johnny Juzang. They held off any runs made by the Spurs' second unit and then did enough to secure the victory in the fourth.&nbsp;

“Obviously Talen was special tonight,” Hardy said. “But there were a lot of guys contributing on both ends of the floor that not only allowed him (Horton-Tucker) to have 41 points, but allowed our team to come out with the win tonight. Really proud of the fact that the guys have maintained throughout the whole season to stay focused on the present. … Just go out there and compete.”

3.) Dunn DominatesSince joining the Jazz, Dunn has been the steadying veteran presence Utah has needed to lead its bench. Wednesday night showed how valuable he is to that second unit, finishing with his 11th game in double figures scoring out of 16 games played. 

Horton-Tucker was on a heater all night, but it meant someone else would have to pick up the slack when he went to the bench — Dunn embraced that role. As usual, he broke down the Spurs' defense and made a living getting into the paint, either getting off a shot at the rim or dishing to an open man.&nbsp;

Dunn dropped 17 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.&nbsp;

4.) Successful Samanic DebutRegarding debuts, Luka Samanic couldn't have had a better one for the Jazz. Signed to a 10-day contract earlier this week, Samanic had just 24 hours with the team before checking into the game late in the first quarter on Wednesday night. 

Although he had three fouls in the first half, he also provided a huge spark off the bench with four points, three rebounds, and one block. He again gave Utah a lift in the second half, knocking down a deep three as part of a personal 5-0 run.

He finished with nine points, nine rebounds, and four assists. He showed impressive playmaking skills, looking under control and having no issue putting the ball on the floor. Most impressively, he finished with a +14 rating in 25 minutes.&nbsp;

5.) Path To The PostseasonFor many reasons, Wednesday's win was arguably Utah's biggest of the season. Not only did they break their recent four-game losing streak, but it also allowed them to stay within striking distance of the play-in tournament with just six games remaining. 

The Jazz sit at No. 12 in the Western Conference but are just 3.5 games out of the sixth seed. While that may be a bit much of a climb, Utah is just two games out of eighth and 1.5 games out of 10th. The other good news for Utah is that they still have to face 10th-place Oklahoma City once and eighth-seeded Los Angeles twice.&nbsp;

Utah is still in control of its own destiny, which is all you can ask for with less than two weeks in the regular season.&nbsp;

“Just treat every game the same, like it’s our last, like it’s a playoff game. … If we come out with that mindset, we're gonna help give ourselves a chance to compete,” Horton-Tucker said.

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"Treat Every Game The Same" | Five Things To Know Following Utah's Victory Over San Antonio

When it was announced that Kelly Olynyk would miss Wednesday’s game with a non-COVID illness, it meant that the Jazz would be down their top four scorers on the season.&nbsp;

It didn’t matter as the night belonged to Talen Horton-Tucker.

Behind a career-high 41 points from Horton-Tucker and an impressive debut by Luka Samanic, Utah ended its four-game losing streak by pulling away in the fourth quarter to pick up the 128-117 win over San Antonio.

“A good bounce back win for us,” head coach Will Hardy said. “I think our guys have been playing really hard lately, they’ve stayed committed to what we’re doing. They’ve done it as a group and it’s good for them to see the reward of that by getting a win.”

Horton-Tucker finished with 41 points on 15-of-25 shooting, 6-of-11 from deep, and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. He also added four rebounds and one steal.&nbsp;

“Seeing the shots starting to fall early really gave my confidence a big boost,” he said. “I was just trying to keep the defense guessing, staying consistent at all three levels, and be aggressive. … I feel like if I come out and do all those three things, I’ll be successful on the court.”

Since joining the Jazz, Kris Dunn has been the steadying veteran presence Utah has needed to lead its bench. Wednesday night showed how valuable he is when he finished with his 11th game in double figures scoring.

Dunn dropped 17 points, five assists, and four rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.&nbsp;

The first quarter was the Horton-Tucker quarter, as he dominated the early minutes.&nbsp;

He drilled a three on Utah’s first possession, staying hot the rest of the way as he scored 16 of their first 22 points. However, the Spurs kept it close as Tre Jones got off to a hot start with six of San Antonio’s first 10 points.&nbsp;

Buckets by Udoka Azubuike and Johnny Juzang broke a tie at 22, as the teams would go back and forth for the next few minutes. A 6-1 run late in the quarter gave the Jazz a five-point lead and some needed momentum, but a pair of Spurs free throws with 1.1 seconds left ended the run.&nbsp;

Samanic debuted late in the first, giving the Jazz a spark with four points, three rebounds, and an assist.

A Damian Jones three extended Utah’s lead to five again early in the second, but the Spurs rallied to cut it to one minutes later.&nbsp;

The Jazz finally gained some real separation as back-to-back dunks by Azubuike kickstarted a 7-0 run, later extending it to nine following a 5-0 run. But the Spurs kept fighting, going on a 16-6 run to take a one-point lead, followed by back-to-back threes from Devonte Graham.&nbsp;

As expected, Horton-Tucker stopped the bleeding with a three — capping off his 27-point first half.&nbsp;

A 6-2 run by San Antonio put the Jazz down two less than three minutes in the third, but Horton-Tucker picked up where he left off with another impressive finish in the lane. That started a 7-0 run as Ochai Agbaji knocked down a three, giving Utah a five-point lead.&nbsp;

After the lead was cut to two, the Jazz reeled off a 14-7 run as Horton-Tucker caught a rhythm on offense. Samanic also showed his versatility with a deep three and a pair of free throws during the run.&nbsp;

The Spurs closed strong, scoring on three consecutive possessions to gain momentum heading to the final 12 minutes.&nbsp;

Looking to break the losing streak, the Jazz started the fourth on a 15-2 run as threes by Dunn and Agbaji gave Utah a 108-90 with just over eight minutes left in the game.&nbsp;

With the Jazz lead reaching 19 following a Horton-Tucker three with just over five to play, Hardy elected to pull his starters a few minutes later. But the Spurs had one last spurt, going on a 19-7 run to cut Utah’s lead to seven with 1:18 to go.&nbsp;

Dunn then sealed the win, knocking down two free throws and finding Juzang for a layup on back-to-back possessions.&nbsp;

Agbaji was the only other starter in double figures with 10 points, while Walker Kessler added nine points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Azubuike and Juzang led the bench by chipping in 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Samanic added nine points, nine rebounds, and four assists.

Utah continues its road trip when it faces Boston on Friday night — tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. MT.

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"See The Reward" | Horton-Tucker's Career Night Sparks Jazz's Victory

Jeremy Rincon

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Highlights: Talen Horton-Tucker – 41 points, 5 assists, 6 3P

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Highlights: Jazz 128 | Spurs 117

Following Monday’s loss to Phoenix, Utah head coach Will Hardy sat down for his postgame media conference and expressed frustration after what had just unfolded over the previous 48 minutes of game time.

“I feel for our guys tonight,” he said, exasperated. “I’m frustrated for them because I think they came into tonight’s game with a good mindset. I think they tried to move the ball, I think we went through long stretches of time where we couldn’t make shots. … That tends to make people antsy.”

It was a rare “outburst” from Hardy, if it can even be called that. The normally stoic coach typically uses humor to move on from difficult losses, such as his approach to the shellacking received against Milwaukee just under a week ago.&nbsp;

“We almost had them,” he told his team sarcastically after their 28-point loss to the Bucks last Friday.

Hardy’s postgame talk on Monday differed from others in the past because he struggled to find a reason why the team lost. Sure, they struggled to knock down open shots despite executing their offense at a high rate — but this team has overcome that in the past when doing all of the other things right, which they did.

“You hear people say all the time, ‘It’s a make or miss league at times.’ I’m not always a believer in that,” he said. “There are moments where the ball does need to go in a few times in order to help you regain the rhythm of the game. … It’s hard to play a game when you’re going through long stretches of not scoring.”

For Utah, it’s about turning the page and controlling what they can moving forward. There are still seven games left in the regular season, which means there are seven more opportunities for this time to gain more experience playing together on the court and, possibly, make one last push toward the postseason.

That starts with Wednesday’s showdown against the undermanned Spurs in San Antonio, the first of three straight on the road.&nbsp;

“You’re gonna have bad nights. … That’s expected,” Kessler said. “I just don’t like to lose in general, so every loss is not a pleasant experience. … But you can’t let it get you down too much.”

Hardy also alluded to changes coming to Utah’s rotation, especially after his second unit struggled to score in the early minutes of the fourth quarter against Phoenix. It would help that Simone Fontecchio is expected to return to action, but he’ll most likely do so in the starting lineup as Lauri Markkanen is OUT against the Spurs.

“We’ve got to figure out offensively what we’re going to do with that group to try to generate some easier baskets,” he said. “Some of that’s gonna take a little bit of time, but we don’t have time. … We’ve got to figure out a way as a staff to help that group generate some better shots. We may need to look at changing up the substitution patterns a little bit and trying to mix that group some.”

STATSUtah (35-40, 13-24 away / No. 12 Western Conference)Offense*117.3 Points Per Game (No. 6 in NBA)*115.8 Offensive Rating (No. 6 in NBA)Defense*117.8 Points Per Game (No. 24 in NBA)*116.2 Defensive Rating (No. 24 in NBA)Individual*Kelly Olynyk: 12.2 points | 5.9 rebounds | 3.6 assists | 38.5% 3P-shooting*Walker Kessler (Last 10 Games): 13.7 points | 9.9 rebounds | 3.1 blocks*Ochai Agbaji (Last 10 Games): 12.9 points | 2.8 rebounds | 39.4% 3P-shooting*Simone Fontecchio (Last 10 games): 12.3 points | 40.4% 3P-shooting

San Antonio (19-56, 13-25 home/ No. 14 Western Conference)Offense*113.7 Points Per Game (No. 18 in NBA)*114.4 Offensive Rating (No. 13 in NBA)Defense*112.0 Points Per Game (No. 6 in NBA)*112.6 Defensive Rating (No. 8 in NBA)Individual*Devonte Graham: 14.0 points | 4.3 assists | 2.6 rebounds | 36.5% 3P-shooting*Tre Jones: 12.4 points | 6.3 assists | 3.5 rebounds*Zach Collins: 11.4 points | 6.3 rebounds | 2.8 assists | 38.2% 3P-shooting

KEY MATCHUP*Walker Kessler vs. Zach Collins— It’s been quite a past few games for Kessler, dropping a career-high 31 points against Sacramento before tying a career-high with seven blocks against Phoenix. He’ll be called upon again on Wednesday night as San Antonio has nobody who can match his size and length in its frontcourt — which puts all the pressure on Zach Collins.

INJURY REPORTUtahAVAILABLE | Simone Fontecchio (left foot - turf toe)AVAILABLE | Micah Potter (G League - Two-Way)OUT | Lauri Markkanen (left hand contusion)OUT | Jordan Clarkson (left hand - fourth finger sprain)OUT | Rudy Gay (low back soreness)OUT | Collin Sexton (left hamstring strain)San AntonioOUT | Charles Bassey (Left Patella; Non-displaced fracture)OUT | Khem Birch (Right knee; Chondromalacia)OUT | Keldon Johnson (Left Foot; Injury Management)OUT | Jeremy Sochan (Right Knee; Soreness)OUT | Devin Vassell (Left Knee; Injury Management)

BROADCAST INFORMATIONTime:&nbsp;6:00 p.m. MTLocation: AT&T Center |San Antonio, TXTV:&nbsp;AT&T SportsNetRadio:&nbsp;The Zone Sports Network

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"A Good Mindset" | Utah Kicks Off Three-Game Road Trip With Undermanned Contest Against San Antonio

It's rare for a player to turn the table and ask questions during a postgame media session — yet when Walker Kessler takes his seat behind the microphone, anything is possible.&nbsp;

"Did I goaltend that Devin Booker one or no? I was curious because I can't believe I got to that one," he said, referring to a block in the third quarter of Monday's showdown against the Suns.&nbsp;

The room went silent as reporters scanned the replays looking for the block in question. It was so quiet that one of Utah's PR members asked the media if there were any more questions as Kessler sat idle. After a minute of searching in silence, a laptop was placed in front of Kessler, and he got his answer.&nbsp;

"Oh, I got that? Geez. … That's crazy," he said with a smile.

That entire scenario was just another unexpected and delightful moment in Kessler's sensational first season.&nbsp;

For someone whose main goal in life (or one of them) is to open up a Waffle House, the rookie has burst onto the scene this year.

He dropped a double-double against two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Denver in the season opener. He became the first rookie to drop a 20-point, 20-rebound double in the last decade just a month later. He was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for February, debuted at All-Star weekend that same month, and then dropped a career-high 31 points in late March.&nbsp;

He also became the first rookie in 25 years to record at least four games of 7+ blocks, trailing Tim Duncan's five times in 1998 and he became the first Jazz rookie ever to record a 30-point, 10-rebound game.

Yet when asked about all of those accolades and how he's taken a giant leap this season, Kessler is quick to point out that his teammates and coaches deserve the most credit for teaching him.

"I always had this belief in me, but I just wanted to learn," he said. "I went into this year trying to learn as much as I could so when I do get the opportunity, I can take advantage and try to help us win the game. I figured by doing that, the rest would take care of itself."

While it's been well-documented how good he's been this season, both as a rookie and a rim protector, Monday's 18-point, eight-rebound, seven-block performance was different. It was the first time this season that Kessler appeared to get the benefit of the doubt when it came to an official's whistle. It was extremely apparent how much he affected the game by his reputation more than his play — at least early on.&nbsp;

"His technique is improved," head coach Will Hardy said. "I think for sure the reputation that he has now is helpful. … He's really gotten the respect of the league, the officials, the players, in terms of being one of those premier shot blockers."

Phoenix took just 20 of their 101 shots at the rim on Monday, even when they had a numbers advantage. The Suns wanted nothing to do with him when he was lurking in the paint. It allowed the Jazz to run Phoenix off the three-point line knowing they still weren't going to take the ball inside and challenge Kessler at the rim.

When asked if he's noticed a change in his reputation, Kessler admits that he's being officiated differently — in a good way.

"Obviously, it's a learning curve for me, but I feel like the refs kind of know that's what I do. … They're definitely letting me go get some," Kessler said.

But it's not just the officials who are noticing. He talked on Monday night about how opposing players are now giving him more credit, constantly remarking about his size, length, or athleticism. Those blocks, the ones where players think they have a free lane, are the ones Kessler gets the most excited about.&nbsp;

"A lot of times, they think they got an open layup or something, and I can get to it. … They're definitely a little caught off guard by it, for sure," he added.&nbsp;

With an ever-growing list of accolades and a reputation that continues to build, Kessler has made his case to be chosen to the NBA All-Rookie team. It's a case that now, according to Hardy, includes another great distinction.&nbsp;

"Like all of the best defenders in the NBA, part of it is they have a reputation," Hardy said of Kessler. "It's not that they don't ever foul, but they're known as a great defender. … So those moments where it's a coin toss, they get the benefit of the doubt more often."

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"He's Gotten The Respect Of The League" | Kessler's Reputation Continues To Grow As He Makes His All-Rookie Case

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PHOTOS | Battling With The Best

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