With the NBA trade deadline officially wrapping up just hours before tipoff on Thursday night, the Jazz had a chance to put everything behind them — but it wasn't going to be easy. Despite being down three rotation players and dealing with the emotional fallout from the past 36 hours, Utah gave a performance to be proud of.
The Jazz battled all night long against one of the hottest teams in the league, but a late third-quarter run from the Suns proved to be the difference as Utah fell 129-115 to Phoenix. With the loss, the Jazz remain in 10th place in the West based on percentage points, just .001 ahead of Golden State.
"Credit to the Suns, they played great. … They shot the ball incredibly well," head coach Will Hardy said. "I have no doubt that every guy in that locker room is bought into what we are doing. … They've been that way the entire year. But when roles change and lineups change, there is a natural kind of awkwardness. … We have to try and find the right balance with some different things going on."
One of the biggest questions coming into Thursday night was what Hardy would do with his starting five and rotation. He's run a 10-man rotation all season, but with Kelly Olynyk, Simone Fontecchio, and Ochai Agbaji all traded within the past 36 hours, that left questions that needed to be answered.
While I expect this situation to remain fluid until after the All-Star break — giving Hardy and the team time to practice and find the correct fits — Thursday gave Jazz fans a glimpse of what to expect moving forward.
Utah inserted Walker Kessler back into the starting lineup alongside regular starters Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Collin Sexton, and Kris Dunn. Jordan Clarkson and Keyonte George were the first two guards off the bench, followed by rookie Taylor Hendricks and Talen Horton-Tucker. Hardy played a nine-man rotation for most of the game.
The night's biggest difference was how Hardy staggered Utah's minutes. Clarkson checked in for Collins four minutes into the game, who then checked in for Kessler four minutes later. Altogether, nine players saw at least 14 minutes of action.
"It's always going to be about how we put the best ecosystem on the floor for 48 minutes," Hardy said. "We got to get through 48 minutes, we got to figure out the balance of sub-patterns and groups that are going to be on the floor together for long stretches of time over the course of the game. I would anticipate that these next couple of games, we're going to have to experiment a little bit and try a few different things out."
Collins continued his superb play of late, finishing with 21 points and 14 rebounds. It was his fifth double-double in eight games. He's settling in with the Jazz over the past few weeks, averaging 17.6 points and 10.8 rebounds.
Markkanen was also very good, finishing with a team-high 22 points and five rebounds. Sexton added 19 points and eight assists, while Kessler added 10 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks in his return to the starting lineup. Clarkson and George continued to carry the bench unit, combining for 24 points and 10 assists.
Hendricks added eight rebounds in his first legitimate NBA action in nearly two months. He also had arguably the play of the game when he blocked Kevin Durant's shot off the backboard, leading to a fast break three for George. Although he's still reacclimatizing himself to the NBA, that block and a few other moments show why the Jazz remain high on the rookie.
As expected, given the recent turn of things, Utah got off to a slow start as the Suns jumped out to an early 16-point lead late in the first. With that lead expanding to 19 midway through the second quarter, the Jazz battled back. Utah found a rhythm on offense to close the half on a 25-15 run to cut their deficit to nine at the break.
The Jazz came out hot to start the second half, cutting the deficit to three early in the third, but the Suns used a massive run to lead by 19 heading to the fourth. Again, the Jazz refused to quit as they battled the rest of the way, eventually cutting the deficit to 11 with just under minutes to play — but they ran out of legs in the end.
"Part of having a good defense for us moving forward is going to be at the point of attack, we got to do a better job of not dying on as many screens," Hardy said. "Offensively, I feel like for the most part our execution was pretty good. We had some moments where we were playing some new lineups, and that leads to disjointed play at times. … But overall, I felt like the team had pretty good intent on the offensive end."
Utah will have three days off to rest and prepare for arguably one of their most important stretches of the season. Just 1.5 games separate the ninth-seeded Lakers and 11th-seeded Warriors. The Jazz will host Golden State on Monday and Thursday while welcoming the Lakers on Wednesday.
"We're going to try and take these next three days before we play again, get home, get these guys a little bit of rest," Hardy said. "We've got some work to do to bring some people up to speed. … We've got certain guys adjusting to new roles. We got to clean some things up, so hopefully, the next few times we play before the All-Star break, our execution can improve a little bit."