Young Jazz Players Get Experience, Fall Short To Spurs

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Utah Jazz stayed within striking distance of the San Antonio Spurs but couldn’t get over the hump as they fall 119-111.

Utah played without four regular starters who missed the game due to injury or rest. The Jazz didn’t have Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neale and Rudy Gobert.

They started Emmanuel Mudiay at point guard, Joe Ingles at shooting guard, small forward was Miye Oni, Georges Niang was at power forward and Ed Davis at center.

love the fight from the young fellas 💜 pic.twitter.com/GvwJLRSrPw

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) August 7, 2020

Jordan Clarkson

The Jazz were led by Jordan Clarkson, who scored 24 points off the bench, including 13 points in the first quarter. He shot 8 of 18 from the field, 4 for 9 from the three-point line and a perfect 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Clarkson also pulled down 2 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.

The last bucket he made in the first quarter was when he drove the basket and met three Spurs defenders. He slid to the right past Drew Eubanks and got the layup to fall. Eubanks was called for the foul.

After the made free throw by Clarkson, Utah trailed San Antonio 36-27 with 36.9 seconds left in the opening period.

Jordan Clarkson finished with 24 points, 4 assists, and 2 rebounds for the @UtahJazz in their loss to the Spurs. pic.twitter.com/sZZ0mjaxsI

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 7, 2020

In the third quarter, Clarkson ran around a screen when he caught the ball and a fired a three-pointer at the top of the arc. San Antonio Spurs guard Derrick White was caught going through Clarkson’s flight and was called for the foul while the Jazz sixth man drilled the triple.

After making the free throw, Clarkson had 21 points and the Jazz trailed the Spurs 67-59 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

On the next possession, Clarkson went down the floor and nailed another three-pointer on the left angle to put the Jazz within five points with a little over 9 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Clarkson was up to 24 points. He scored 13 points in the first quarter.

Young Guys Shine

In Miye Oni’s first career start, he poured in a career-high 14 points and 7 rebounds on 4 of 9 shooting from the floor in 30 minutes. Tony Bradley notched a double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 3 blocks. Jarrell Brantley and Justin Wright-Foreman each scored 8 points apiece off the bench.

Rayjon Tucker added 5 points including his first career three-pointer in the NBA.

Tony Bradley added 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks for the @utahjazz off the bench. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/GzBpw060C1

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 7, 2020

Playoff Standings

The Jazz dropped their record to 43-26 including a 2-3 mark in the bubble in Orlando. They are now currently in sixth place in the Western Conference tied with Oklahoma City for the fifth spot but the Thunder hold the tiebreaker. Utah is a half of a game behind the Houston Rockets for the fourth seed and two games back of the Denver Nuggets who are holding onto the third seed. The Jazz are three games ahead of the seventh place Dallas Mavericks.

The Jazz will have a short turnaround as they will face the Denver Nuggets on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is at 1:30 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on TNT and AT&T SportsNet.