There are bound to be ebbs and flows in every NBA season.
After facing New Orleans on Tuesday night, the Jazz suffered their third consecutive loss — and that was coming off a stretch where they had gone 12-2 over their previous 14 games. After that, head coach Will Hardy was very poignant with his postgame comments.
“The reality of tonight’s game and the reality of the last three games, we’re just not playing hard enough,” he said Tuesday. “We’ve got to find a way to crank up the gas. … I have no concerns about the ability to pivot back to playing great basketball.”
The Jazz returned to playing hard on Thursday night, and the results followed.
With six players in double figures, Utah used a big run in the first quarter and never trailed again, taking down Washington 123-108 on Thursday night. The win snapped Utah’s three-game losing streak and moved the team into 9th place in the Western Conference.
“Overall, I thought there were a bunch of guys who contributed to the win,” Hardy said. “We don’t take any win on the road for granted. … Playing on the road in this league is very hard, and coming off the two losses, tonight was a good win.”
Here are five things to know following the win.
1.) Markkanen Quick Start
Coming off his second-lowest scoring night of the season, chances were high that the Jazz would try and get Lauri Markkanen going early.
Markkanen played the entire first quarter — a rarity for him — and finished with 13 points, two assists, one rebound, and one steal. He shot 5-of-9 from the field and 2-for-6 from three. His scoring output in that quarter alone was more than his total against the Pelicans two nights ago (11 points).
Markkanen kept attacking the rest of the way, finishing with 29 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. He went a perfect 4-for-4 from three in the second half, including back-to-back shots late in the fourth to seal the win.
“I think Lauri is playing with so much force on the offensive end,” Hardy said. “When he plays with that force, there are times he gets to shoot. … But there are also times when he’s drawing multiple defenders. Where it doesn’t show up in the stats is that if he draws multiple defenders and he kicks it, it puts their team in rotations. … He doesn’t necessarily directly get the assist, but he created that initial advantage.”
2.) First Quarter Run
With Hardy making it clear he wanted the Jazz to play harder and get out to better starts, the team didn’t have an ideal opening few minutes. Washington started the game 6-for-6 from the field as Utah trailed 13-4 just three minutes in.
Instead of calling a customary timeout , Hardy elected to let the Jazz play through it. That turned out to be the right call. Simone Fontecchio drilled a three on the next possession and then unlocked Utah’s offense. The Jazz then rattled off a 28-5 run, punctuated by another Fontecchio three to take a 14-point lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.
The Jazz never trailed the rest of the way, pushing their lead to as much as 25 early in the fourth quarter.
3.) Bench Scoring
Thursday’s showdown between Utah and Washington featured two of the prominent benches in the league. Entering the game, the Jazz were second in the NBA in bench scoring at 45.2, while the Wizards were fifth at 41.6.
Utah won that battle on Thursday, outscoring Washington 47-26.
Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk were sensational for the Jazz, combining for 38 points on 15-of-28 from the floor. Clarkson dropped 19 points, eight assists, and three rebounds, while Olynyk added 19 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Keyonte George added five points and seven assists, finishing with a +16 rating in 30 minutes.
“Obviously, the three-game skid for us, but it’s great to bounce back and get a win,” Olynyk said. “Two of those games, we really felt it went right down to the end and it could’ve went either way. … We could’ve easily been 2-1 in that three-game slide. Tonight was about just keeping the momentum, keeping our heads up. … We know what kind of team we are and what we are capable of, just get back to playing how we want to play and execute on both ends.”
4.) Double-Double Life
After being Utah’s big offseason acquisition, John Collins had his best game of the season on Thursday night. He finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds, both career-highs in a Utah uniform. It was also his 12th career 20-point, 15-rebound game and the 12th double-double this year.
Collins shot 11-of-15 from the floor while adding one assist and one steal. He was effective on the offensive glass, grabbing seven rebounds — two more than Washington did as a team.
He’s settling in nicely with the Jazz, averaging 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds on 59.7% shooting in his past 10 games.
“I think John Collins, his activity tonight, his energy level screening, rolling, getting on the glass. … I thought that he was a huge reason why we won tonight’s game,” Hardy said. “John’s obviously very vertically athletic. He’s maybe the best guy on our team at just snatching the ball with two hands above the rim. … He’s aggressive going to the glass, he rebounds with force.”
5.) Dominant Lineup
Over the past 15 games, the lineup of Markkanen, Clarkson, Fontecchio, Keyonte George, and Walker Kessler has the third-best net rating of any lineup in the league. That group has a +19.2 net rating in just 61 minutes.
With the Jazz off to a slow start, Hardy mixed things up with his regular rotation. He put in George, Clarkson, and Kessler alongside starters Markkanen and Fontecchio, with Utah up 22-18 with 4:30 left in the first quarter. The Jazz went on an immediate 10-0 run, with Markkanen and Fontecchio doing all the scoring.
Although Washington would close strong, the spurt from that unit was enough to give Utah breathing room heading to the second quarter. That group finished +4 in points, dishing out four assists as the Jazz led 36-29 after one.