That was not a very pretty game. We were down by 39 at one point, and the Nuggets looked like they were hitting everything. I know the Nuggets are contenders again, but damn I was hoping for just a little bit of mercy lol.
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I will say that third quarter was insanely fun. Keyonte George and Brice Sensabaugh combined for 26 points, as we outscored the Nuggets 44-24 in that quarter alone. We cut it down to 14 at the end of the quarter, and went on an 18-1 run in less than 4 minutes of game time.
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But that was the end of that. I’m just glad we weren’t blown out by 50+ like we were trending towards.
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Keyonte George was our go-to offensive option, scoring 29 points on 10-17 shooting, 5-8 from 3, 4-5 from the line, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, but 4 turnovers as well in 38 minutes. Surprisingly, he was only a -2 in his minutes. [He was hitting some tough shots,](https://x.com/utahjazz/status/1766673238816682038?s=20) and [a few](https://x.com/JazzNationCP/status/1766659548192952636?s=20) great [pull-up 3’s.](https://x.com/UtahJazzClips/status/1766671898409046051?s=20) It seemed like he was in a roll, especially that third quarter. It took him a minute to get going, but he was on fire. His assists need to be cleaned up, there was 2 (i think) where he just tried to do too much on a flashier pass that was easily picked off. His defense was meh, but I mainly credit Jamal Murray on his insane shot making tonight. Overall, a very, very, very good Keyonte game.
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John Collins had a good game as well. He was tasked with guarding Jokic (bless his soul), but was our main offensive option in the first quarter, where he had 9 points in that quarter. He cooled off, and finished with 19 points on 7-10 shooting, 7 rebounds (3 offensive), 1 assist, and 2 turnovers. He was a team-high +6 in his 33 minutes though đ A lot of his points in the first quarter [came from cuts he made in the middle of the floor.](https://x.com/JazzLead/status/1766652371797770253?s=20) Here’s [another with a nice pass from Brice,](https://x.com/UtahJazzClips/status/1766651378384990333?s=20) and here’s [another, albeit incidental, finish from him.](https://x.com/JazzLead/status/1766650938939568558?s=20) That was his bread and butter that first quarter.
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Brice Sensabaugh is a bucket, and every since he became a starter he’s really shown what he’s made of. His basket making ability is insane. 7-11 shooting, 0-3 from 3, 2-3 from the line, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, but 5 turnovers. He finished with 16 points and a +4 in his minutes tonight. [He was making all kind of shots tonight.](https://x.com/UtahJazzClips/status/1766670933425574321?s=20) Here’s [a floater in traffic,](https://x.com/JazzLead/status/1766668823951024322?s=20) a [tough midrange fade over Gordon,](https://x.com/UtahJazzClips/status/1766648894232920515?s=20) and lastly, this [nice read to get an open floater.](https://x.com/JazzLead/status/1766668823951024322?s=20) I also wanted to highlight his passing, although he only had 3 assists, I was impressed with his ability to find the open cutter, and it seems like he is building chemistry with John Collins. His 3 steals tonight were pretty nice too.
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Collin Sexton struggled offensively, but did come alive a bit in the third. 17 points on 6-17 shooting, 1-3 from 3, 4-5 from the line, 1 rebound, 4 assists, and 1 steal tonight. I do love his [ability to drive past nearly anybody on the perimeter and get in the lane.](https://x.com/camisa_23/status/1766674225534836828?s=20) Was a rough shooting night overall for Collin.
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Walker Kessler started, and was eaten alive. 6 points, 3-9 shooting, 11 rebounds (including an insane 7 OREB), 2 assists, and just 1 block. He was -19 in his 24 minutes. I think that Denver does a really good job of collapsing and suffocating the interior, and Kessler just wasn’t going up strong enough.
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Jordan Clarkson had 22 points on 10-18 shooting, 1-4 from 3, 1-1 from the line, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He was a team-low -31 in 27 minutes tonight. [I was a big fan of this tough and-1 layup he had,](https://x.com/BasketBballer/status/1766680201902346714?s=20) but that’s the only highlight of his I remember. A rough shooting night for him & Sexton, which it’s tough to win when both of them are struggling. They shot a combined 16-35, and 2-7 from 3.
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The rest of our bench was pretty terrible, although Luka Samanic did play some good on-ball defense on Michael Porter Jr in my opinion.
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As a team, we were absolutely whooped by transition points. Denver is a very cherry-pick heavy team, and it seems like anytime we crashed the glass, Denver had a wide open layup or dunk on the other end. 30 fastbreak points compared to our 13. We did a good job of scoring in the paint, but I think it’s mainly because our 3-ball was ass for 3/4’s of the game.
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Our perimeter defense needs to be re-hauled. I don’t know if it was Will Hardy telling our guys to blitz Jokic like that whenever he caught the ball in the post, but it seems very suspicious. He has done that with a few other superstars in the league, and it has worked maybe one or two games. But against Jokic, you can’t do that. He’s the best passer in the league. We gave up too many open 3’s, and were outshot 19 made 3’s to our 8.
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oh well
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28-36. At least Keyonte & Brice lit up that 3rd quarter.
[deleted]
[deleted]
thehelpfulcamel
That crazy run in the third quarter led by Brice and Keyonte catching fire made up for that godawful first half from an entertainment standpoint. There’s a very good chance all three of the 2023 draft picks are part of the long term future for the Jazz and that’s really exciting.
3 Comments
GAME NOTES:
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That was not a very pretty game. We were down by 39 at one point, and the Nuggets looked like they were hitting everything. I know the Nuggets are contenders again, but damn I was hoping for just a little bit of mercy lol.
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I will say that third quarter was insanely fun. Keyonte George and Brice Sensabaugh combined for 26 points, as we outscored the Nuggets 44-24 in that quarter alone. We cut it down to 14 at the end of the quarter, and went on an 18-1 run in less than 4 minutes of game time.
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But that was the end of that. I’m just glad we weren’t blown out by 50+ like we were trending towards.
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Keyonte George was our go-to offensive option, scoring 29 points on 10-17 shooting, 5-8 from 3, 4-5 from the line, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, but 4 turnovers as well in 38 minutes. Surprisingly, he was only a -2 in his minutes. [He was hitting some tough shots,](https://x.com/utahjazz/status/1766673238816682038?s=20) and [a few](https://x.com/JazzNationCP/status/1766659548192952636?s=20) great [pull-up 3’s.](https://x.com/UtahJazzClips/status/1766671898409046051?s=20) It seemed like he was in a roll, especially that third quarter. It took him a minute to get going, but he was on fire. His assists need to be cleaned up, there was 2 (i think) where he just tried to do too much on a flashier pass that was easily picked off. His defense was meh, but I mainly credit Jamal Murray on his insane shot making tonight. Overall, a very, very, very good Keyonte game.
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John Collins had a good game as well. He was tasked with guarding Jokic (bless his soul), but was our main offensive option in the first quarter, where he had 9 points in that quarter. He cooled off, and finished with 19 points on 7-10 shooting, 7 rebounds (3 offensive), 1 assist, and 2 turnovers. He was a team-high +6 in his 33 minutes though đ A lot of his points in the first quarter [came from cuts he made in the middle of the floor.](https://x.com/JazzLead/status/1766652371797770253?s=20) Here’s [another with a nice pass from Brice,](https://x.com/UtahJazzClips/status/1766651378384990333?s=20) and here’s [another, albeit incidental, finish from him.](https://x.com/JazzLead/status/1766650938939568558?s=20) That was his bread and butter that first quarter.
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Brice Sensabaugh is a bucket, and every since he became a starter he’s really shown what he’s made of. His basket making ability is insane. 7-11 shooting, 0-3 from 3, 2-3 from the line, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, but 5 turnovers. He finished with 16 points and a +4 in his minutes tonight. [He was making all kind of shots tonight.](https://x.com/UtahJazzClips/status/1766670933425574321?s=20) Here’s [a floater in traffic,](https://x.com/JazzLead/status/1766668823951024322?s=20) a [tough midrange fade over Gordon,](https://x.com/UtahJazzClips/status/1766648894232920515?s=20) and lastly, this [nice read to get an open floater.](https://x.com/JazzLead/status/1766668823951024322?s=20) I also wanted to highlight his passing, although he only had 3 assists, I was impressed with his ability to find the open cutter, and it seems like he is building chemistry with John Collins. His 3 steals tonight were pretty nice too.
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Collin Sexton struggled offensively, but did come alive a bit in the third. 17 points on 6-17 shooting, 1-3 from 3, 4-5 from the line, 1 rebound, 4 assists, and 1 steal tonight. I do love his [ability to drive past nearly anybody on the perimeter and get in the lane.](https://x.com/camisa_23/status/1766674225534836828?s=20) Was a rough shooting night overall for Collin.
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Walker Kessler started, and was eaten alive. 6 points, 3-9 shooting, 11 rebounds (including an insane 7 OREB), 2 assists, and just 1 block. He was -19 in his 24 minutes. I think that Denver does a really good job of collapsing and suffocating the interior, and Kessler just wasn’t going up strong enough.
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Jordan Clarkson had 22 points on 10-18 shooting, 1-4 from 3, 1-1 from the line, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He was a team-low -31 in 27 minutes tonight. [I was a big fan of this tough and-1 layup he had,](https://x.com/BasketBballer/status/1766680201902346714?s=20) but that’s the only highlight of his I remember. A rough shooting night for him & Sexton, which it’s tough to win when both of them are struggling. They shot a combined 16-35, and 2-7 from 3.
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The rest of our bench was pretty terrible, although Luka Samanic did play some good on-ball defense on Michael Porter Jr in my opinion.
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As a team, we were absolutely whooped by transition points. Denver is a very cherry-pick heavy team, and it seems like anytime we crashed the glass, Denver had a wide open layup or dunk on the other end. 30 fastbreak points compared to our 13. We did a good job of scoring in the paint, but I think it’s mainly because our 3-ball was ass for 3/4’s of the game.
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Our perimeter defense needs to be re-hauled. I don’t know if it was Will Hardy telling our guys to blitz Jokic like that whenever he caught the ball in the post, but it seems very suspicious. He has done that with a few other superstars in the league, and it has worked maybe one or two games. But against Jokic, you can’t do that. He’s the best passer in the league. We gave up too many open 3’s, and were outshot 19 made 3’s to our 8.
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oh well
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28-36. At least Keyonte & Brice lit up that 3rd quarter.
[deleted]
That crazy run in the third quarter led by Brice and Keyonte catching fire made up for that godawful first half from an entertainment standpoint. There’s a very good chance all three of the 2023 draft picks are part of the long term future for the Jazz and that’s really exciting.