by Alma Bean
Feature Image by Jeffrey D. Allred of Deseret News
The Utah Jazz (0-1) looks to turn their season around early as they take on the Los Angeles Clippers (1-0) before their quick two-game road trip.
Is it Time to Overreact?
Right off the bat, Utah fans were given a treat. Walker Kessler (7 points and 4 rebounds) with the first made basket of the game drained a corner three. After the discovery of his perimeter shooting last season, Utah fans have been waiting to see if his attempt was just a gimmick or if it will be a part of his game. Even with Utah coming out the gate ready to score, this didn’t stop Los Angeles from bringing the heat. Off the bench, Bones Hyland (12/2/1) went 3/3 (100%) for the quarter with two of those shots coming from the perimeter. Hyland was able to do enough to keep things within reach as Utah kept a 33-30 lead to end the quarter.
After a back and forth first quarter, Los Angeles tried to throw Utah off their game and bring the pressure within the three-point line. Shooting 7/10 (70%) within the perimeter, Hyland continued to put his team on his back as he continued to shoot perfect going 5/5 (100%) for the half. Utah needed a response for Los Angeles’ guard scoring at will and their response came from Keyonte George (8/3/2). George as the 10th man in the rotation, he shot 2/2 (100%) from the field including two rebounds and two assists in a little over five minutes of game time. Utah came with a newfound energy that translated to great ball movement as their AST/TO ratio at the half was at 2.0 (16 AST, 8 TO) which contributed to their 63-54 lead at the half.
Don’t Get Too Comfortable
Starting the half, it felt as if Los Angeles wanted to show additional pressure especially on the perimeter. Utah shot 2/11 (19.2%) from the perimeter in the third quarter after going 9/21 (42.9%) in the first half. Paul George (36/4/1) continued to prove that he is a star in this league scoring 15 of his 31 points in the third quarter. George continued to get foul calls in his favor shooting 13/13 (100%) from the free throw line to this point. Though his stats may not be astounding, Collin Sexton (13 point and 1 rebound) brought the heat on defense. Sexton applying suffocating ball pressure including a possession on George that led to an eight-second violation after George failed to get the ball past the midcourt line in time. Going into the final quarter, Los Angeles decided to give the fans a close game as they trailed 89-83.
The fourth quarter swung in Los Angeles’ favor, enough so to where they even held the lead. Kelly Olynyk (15/4/3) did everything in his power to keep Utah in this game as he hit two very critical perimeter shots, including one in transition to give Utah the lead with just under four minutes to go in the game. After Paul George gave Los Angeles the lead with just over a minute left, Lauri Markkanen (35/12/3) came in with the hustle play earning multiple rebounds before getting the eventual tip-in basket. George once again giving Los Angeles the lead, this time from a free throw, Jordan Clarkson (13/4/6) made a clutch three to put Utah up by two with just 28 seconds left in the game. Kawhi Leonard (25/9/5) who had been playing great to this point, took it upon himself to put his team on his back. Having Clarkson guarding him, Leonard put up a contested three for the potential win and missed. Russell Westbrook (4/9/4) managed to get the offensive rebound and hurried to get a fadeaway midrange shot up but came up unsuccessful, giving Utah their first win of the season 120-118.
What’s Next
Utah will have a short-lived victory as they turn their focus to the Phoenix Suns (1-1) Saturday night.
The Hive Sports 
Leave a Reply