JazzSmack

Utah Jazz showed up big time in the second half of back-to-back games against the Houston Rockets in Salt Lake City. Jazz played the Rockets on Sunday afternoon and were blown out in that game. But the two teams squared off for second time on Monday evening and things went much differently the second time around. The youth of the Jazz played vastly better and the Jazz vets did as well in a game that saw the Jazz carry the lead for much of the game. This was a satisfying win by this young developing Utah Jazz team.

Keyonte George was under the weather for Sunday's afternoon game and played one of the worst games of any player in NBA history. But Monday night was totally different. Keyonte shot 8-14 from the field Monday and scored 28 points to go along with 8 assist. Other young Jazz players that played well were Ace Bailey with 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Quite a stat line from Ace in 28 minutes of playing time. Ace's defense continues to improve as well with each passing game. Kyle Filipowski showed up and played a great game with 12 points on 50% shooting to go along with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block. Walter Clayton Jr. also played a major role in the win playing 21 minutes and scoring 8 points. Walt also tallied 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal.

Lauri Markkanen led all Jazz players in points with 29 for the game on 9-17 shooting. Lauri also recorded 8 rebounds and 1 blocked shot.

Utah Jazz are a young developing team and younger teams typically struggle more on the road in the NBA. This Jazz team is no different. So how do the Utah Jazz home numbers compare to the team's road numbers? We take a look at the scoring and shooting numbers of the Utah Jazz home games compared to the numbers from the Utah Jazz road games.

Jazz got off to a great start in tonight's game against the Golden State Warriors behind the hot shooting of Keyonte George. Unfortunately, the Jazz could not maintain the hot shooting and the Warriors were able to battle back and win the game with a solid effort in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters.

Keyonte George led the way for the Jazz with 28 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Brice Sensabaugh played one of his best games of the year and scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting from the field. Ace Bailey also played a good game and scored 21 points on 8-15 shooting from the field.

Getting Brice Sensabaugh and Ace Bailey playing better on the offensive side of the ball really helps the team moving forward. Kyle Filipowski had another solid showing as well, scoring 11 points on 50 percent shooting and also grabbing 9 rebounds.

Golden State Warriors played short-handed in tonight's game but that didn't matter in the end with Steph Curry socring 31 points and Buddy Hield 20 points.

Final Score: Utah Jazz 117, Golden State Warriors 134

Should the Utah Jazz be playing veteran players big minutes in order to be competitive and win games this season? Or should the franchise opt for a more heavily weighted youth movement (in terms of minutes played) and try to prepare its recent draft picks for future seasons? That's the question that has been the focus of many social media discussions over the past three seasons and even more so this current season. For right now, Will Hardy seems to be leaning in the direction of remaining competitive by playing the vets significant minutes.

Utah Jazz took the Los Angeles Lakers right down to final shot in tonight's game but Keyonte George missed a double clutch three from the right corner at the buzzer. The three point attempt was heavily contested and it made it an extremely difficult attempt.

Leading scorers for the Jazz were Keyonte George with 27 points, Lauri Markkanen with 20 points and Svi Mykhailuk with 12 points.

Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers both struggled shooting the ball in this game and the Lakers finished with a 44.2% field goal percentage and the Jazz finished with a 42.6% field goal percentage.

Los Angeles Lakers were led in scoring by Luka Doncic with 33 points, Austin Reaves with 22 points and LeBron James with 17 points.

Final Score: Utah Jazz 106, Lost Angeles Lakers 108

If the NBA season were to end today, the Utah Jazz would make it in the NBA Western Conference Play-In as the 10th seed. The franchise would also forfeit its first round pick in the upcoming NBA draft next summer to the Oklahoma City Thunder as a result of a previous trade that put the pick in jeopardy if falls out of the top eight in the final draft order. As of today, the Utah Jazz have the 10th worst pick in the league which means OKC would receive the pick. The question is, would making the play-in be good or bad for the franchise? What are the positives and negatives?

It still very early in the NBA season and a lot of basketball has yet to be played. So what is today may not be the case tomorrow. However, there are some really struggling teams below the Utah Jazz in the standings and it is quite clear the Jazz will not finish with the worst record in the league as the franchise did last season.

Jazz got off to a very hot start from the three point line in tonight's game against the OKC Thunder in Salt Lake City at the Delta Center. Jazz scored 44 points in that first quarter and held an eighteen point lead at one point in the game. But after being up by 1 point at the half, OKC turned up the defense and the young Jazz squad struggled to score at anything close to the same pace in that second half. OKC ended up winning the game by a hefty margin.

Leading the way for the Jazz was Keyonte George with 20 points. Lauri Markkanen scored 19 points and Kyle Filipowski scored 18 points.

Final Score: Utah Jazz 112, OKC Thunder 144

Keyonte George got off to a hot start in Los Angeles against the Los Angeles Lakers scoring 23 points in that first half and finishing the game with 34 points and 13-23 shooting from the field. Keyonte also shot 5-13 from the three point line to go along with 8 assists.

Lauri Markkanen had a big night scoring the basketball as well for the Utah Jazz, finishing 12-21 from the field for a total of 31 points.

Overall the Utah Jazz shot 52.2 from the field and that is a terrific shooting percentage for the Jazz, especially in a road game where the team has struggled to shoot the ball so far this season.

Isaiah Collier scored 9 points and handed out 6 assists while shooting 3-6 from the field for the Jazz.

This was LeBron James first game played of the season and LeBron dished out a game high 12 assists in 30 minutes of game action. LeBron in his first game back had a very nice night for the Lakers even though he only scored 11 points.

Luka Doncic led the way for the Los Angeles Lakers scoring 37 points and dishing out 10 assists. Luka shot 11-22 from the field and 13-16 from the free throw line.

Austin Reaves also scored well in this game with 26 points on 7-11 shooting from the field.

Final Score: Utah Jazz 126, Los Angeles Lakers 140

Utah Jazz played an exhausting double overtime game against the Chicago Bulls Sunday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Lauri Markkanen carried the load for much of the game, scoring 47 points in the process. But at the end of the second overtime, Keyonte George made a big three pointer that gave the Utah Jazz a 3 point lead and win after a failed Bulls 3 pointer at the buzzer.

Lauri Markkanen was the leading scorer in the game, shooting 15-33 from the field and 11-13 from the line. Keyonte George shot 10-27 from the field and 10-10 from the line to score 33 points. Brice Sensabaugh scored 16 points on 5-9 shooting. Isaiah Collier scored 16 points and added 9 assists. Kyle Filipowski scored 8 points on 4-7 from the field and also hauled in 9 rebounds.

Final Score: Utah Jazz 150, Chicago Bulls 147

Lauri Markkanen once again had an absolutely stellar night shooting the basketball. Overall, Lauri shot 15-25 from the field, 6-12 on threes, and 4-4 from the free throw line. Markkanen finished the night scoring 40 points and even scored 25 in the first half. However, it was not enough to overcome the hot shooting by the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta put up 80 points in the first half and ended the game with 132 points.

Ace Bailey also looked very comfortable shooting the ball once again and scored 21 points on 8-13 from the field and 4-7 from three. Ace is looking better and better with each passing game and his shooting percentages have continue to climb.

Isaiah Collier once again took very few shots from the field but still finished with 10 points and 7 assists.

Kyle Filipowski blocked 3 shots, dished out 3 assists, hauled in 9 rebounds, and scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting from the field. This also included shooting 1-2 from the three point line.

Overall, the Utah Jazz were able to make this game with the Atlanta Hawks competitive down the stretch which makes for a much better learning environment for the young roster.

Final Score: Utah Jazz 122, Atlanta Hawks 132

The entire Jazz roster shot the ball exceptionally well against the Indiana Pacers in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Jazz ended the game scoring 152 points which resulted in a 24 point win over the Indiana Pacers. Utah was led by Lauri Markkanen scoring 35 points. Lauri shot 13-19 from the field, 5-7 from three, 4-5 free throws, as well as 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Ace Bailey, in his second start of the season, had his best game thus far. Ace shot 7-13 from the field, 4-8 from three, 2-2 free throws, as well as 4 rebounds and 1 assist. Ace scored 20 points in 26 minutes of playing time.

Svi Mykhailuk also shot the ball well going 8-10 from the field, 3-5 from three, and also added 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Svi scored 20 points in 27 minutes.

Kyle Filipowski and Isaiah Collier also played exceptionally well for the Jazz. Kyle shot 50% from the field while scoring 16 points and also getting 7 rebounds and handing out 3 assists. Isaiah Collier recorded 11 assists and only turned the ball over twice. Collier also scored 14 points on 5-6 shooting from the field.

Utah Jazz next play against the Atlanta Hawks this Thursday in the Delta Center.

Ace Bailey made his first NBA start for the Utah Jazz at home in the Delta Center against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ace played 27.5 minutes, scored 10 points, shot 4-9 from the field, secured 7 rebounds (4 offensive rebounds), had 3 steals and dished out 2 assists.

Overall, the Jazz played much better in this game compared to how they played in Minnesota, where they lost by 40. Jazz were up by 2 at the half. The second half must more of a struggle for the Jazz as the Timberwolves outscored the Jazz by 15 in the third quarter. But they Jazz didn't give up and made it competitive down the stretch. Walter Clayton Jr. had a three point shot with about 15 seconds left on the clock that would have cut the Wolves lead to just 4 points, but the shot was just a bit short.

Leading scorer for the Jazz was Keyonte George with 27 points on 9-18 from the field and 3-11 on threes. Lauri Markkanen scored 21 and had 8 rebounds. The bench came in and really gave the Jazz a lift to keep the game within reach. All the bench players were plus in the plus/minus category other than Isaiah Collier at a minus 3. However, Isaiah Collier played on 16 minutes of game time and recorded 7 assists. Collier continues to be a positive play maker for the Jazz.

Isaiah Collier made his long awaited return to the Utah Jazz lineup in a road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Will Hardy chose to give Isaiah the start at point guard which was quite a surprise to many observers. Collier actually ended up leading the Jazz roster in minutes played in this game with 26:19. He also finished the game shooting 4-8 from the field, scoring 10 points, and delivering 3 assists as well.

This was the last game of a long road trip for the Jazz and things got off to a rough start. Jazz were quickly down big and by halftime, the Timberwolves lead was a seemingly insurmountable 34 points.

Despite the 40 point loss, it was great to finally see Isaiah Collier back on the court playing point guard for the Utah Jazz. His elite speed with the ball in his hands is a unique skill that the Jazz can certainly utilize moving forward.

Jazz get an opportunity for redemption in the next game in Salt Lake City, because that next game is against this Wolves team that gave them so much trouble this evening. Will be interesting to see if the Jazz have more fight in round 2.

Final Score: Utah Jazz 97, Minnesota Timberwolves 137