J
James Hansen
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Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
The Utah Jazz did not have the firepower to knock off the Denver Nuggets with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray
The final score for this one was the Denver Nuggets 111 and the Utah Jazz 95, but that score is a little deceiving. Yes, the Nuggets controlled the game, but the Jazz had some moments to be happy about.
The Jazz actually played defense in this one, and it was fun to see. Utah was within single digits for a large portion of the second half and nearly took the lead. Jamal Murray, late in the game, went on his own 9-0 rum, but the Jazz made a lot of nice defensive plays to make this one interesting. Omer Yurtseven overall had a nice game and did as nice as a player can be expected guarding Jokic. On top of Yurtseven inside, the overall intensity of the defense was nice to see for a Jazz team that has not been able to stop anyone since trade deadline. It’s a nice sign for the future that this team can actually defend when they want to.
The three Jazz rookies all had a nice moment this game, even though a lot of their play fizzled out late in the fourth. Keyonte George had 5 assists and was hitting shots inside. He’s in a major 3-point slump, but his shot is falling at a high level from 2. In this one, he was 2/9 from three but 4/11 from the field, meaning he was actually 2/2 from 2-point range. George needs to get into the paint more because good things happen when he does. Taylor Hendricks had a pretty quiet stat line, but he showed good defense in his short time on the floor and knocked down 1⁄2 of his threes. Finally, Brice Sensabaugh started off the game nicely, hitting his first two shots, but then his shot stopped falling. He also had a few really nice passes leading to two assists. It was nice to see the rookies show their stuff and it absolutely shows the Jazz had a great draft and should have some great pieces for the future.
Talen Horton-Tucker had what was probably his best game of the season. He was 10/23 from the floor and 4/8 from three. He also had 3 rebounds and 2 assists. The THT experience continues to be up and down. Nights like tonight show why he’s such a tantalizing prospect with his mix of talent and physical tools. His decision-making and some of the shots he chooses to take are the issues with him. Tonight, he had multiple plays where he dove into a crowd of Nuggets and lost the ball. THT can potentially become a real piece in the league if he could improve his decision-making. It’s jut not clear when that might be.
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