Despite being down by 30 entering the final 12 minutes, the Jazz staged a frantic fourth quarter comeback to cut the deficit to 14 with just over six minutes to play. But Utah eventually ran out of steam before falling to the Kings 125-104 on Saturday night.
“Tonight was one of those nights where I actually felt like the team was trying hard,” head coach Will Hardy said postgame. “We were just a step slow on every aspect on both ends of the floor. … We were physically behind by a step and it led us to make a bunch of mental errors.”
As mentioned multiple times over the past few games, Hardy had been searching for consistency in his starting lineup and rotation. Dealing with numerous injuries and an illness that has rocked the team, Saturday night in Sacramento left the head coach searching for answers an hour until tipoff.
Talen Horton-Tucker was listed as out while dealing with an illness. But he started to feel better and was upgraded to questionable, probable, and available after going through his typical pregame warmup. Omer Yurtseven went from out to questionable and back to out again, all in the few hours leading up to tipoff.
Although Horton-Tucker started two nights ago in Portland, Hardy elected to go with Kris Dunn in the starting lineup — alongside Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Simone Fontecchio, and Kelly Olynyk. It was the sixth consecutive game Hardy has gone with a different starting five. Dunn’s involvement also marked the 13th different Jazz player to start this year, tying for the league high with Miami and Memphis.
“They stuck together,” Hardy said, praising Utah’s resilience despite uncertainty. “They continued to communicate during the game. … There wasn’t finger pointing, there wasn’t blaming. It was a night where we were all together but just couldn’t get it going.”
One of the bright spots on the night was the continued play of Markkanen.
After returning from a three-week absence against New York on Wednesday night, Markkanen finished with 23 points and eight rebounds. He missed Utah’s victory over Portland on Thursday night as the Jazz didn’t want to push him too hard too quickly, but he was back in the starting lineup against Sacramento.
While still on a minutes restriction and out of his regular substitution schedule, Markkanen rebounded from a slow start to finish with 18 points, six rebounds, and three assists. He was his typical efficient self, shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and 2-for-5 from three.
The good news is that he appeared to be in better condition against Sacramento, as his minutes jumped from 25 against the Knicks to 28 against the Kings. While Utah will continue to take it slow with its star, Markkanen appears to have fully recovered.
“We need to make sure that he’s fully healthy before we just unleash him,” Hardy said. “He felt good after the last game, which is the biggest thing for us that he felt good about his body. He’s an unbelievable shooter who can score in a variety of ways, but I think it was nice to see him play downhill a little bit. … To see him turn the corner a few times, that makes me feel good.”
Since the calendar flipped to December, Sexton has found another gear on the court. He began the month with a 25-point showing in Utah’s win over the Blazers and hasn’t cooled off. If Saturday night was any indication of what’s coming, Sexton has no plans of cooling off anytime soon.
He was another of the bright spots on the night, finishing with 28 points — his fourth straight game with 20+ points. He shot 10-of-18 from the field, 2-of-6 from deep, and 6-of-7 from the line, adding three rebounds.
Hardy complimented Sexton on his ability to be flexible all season. With an ever-changing role this year, Sexton has come started, come off the bench, played 30 minutes, or played sparingly some nights. With Utah dealing with injury and illness concerns, Sexton’s consistency has been a bright spot.
“Collin has been putting a lot of work in. … It’s a credit to him,” Hardy said. “Collin is somebody who is always pushing the envelope with his speed. … I think he’s made a noticeable adjustment recently of almost slowing down a bit. I know Collin feels good about it.”
Olynyk continued to shine in the starting lineup, finishing a career-high 13 assists, adding nine points and five rebounds. Taylor Hendricks and Horton-Tucker (five assists and three steals) each added 12 points off the bench, with Hendricks knocking down a pair of threes and shooting 4-of-5 from the line.
Utah will return home for a showdown against Brooklyn on Monday night, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.