BEN ANDERSON
Shorthanded Jazz Enter All-Star Break With Memphis Loss
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz put up a valiant effort against the Memphis Grizzlies in a 117-111 loss heading into the All-Star break.
Lauri Markkanen missed the game with knee soreness while Collin Sexton left the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury.
Kelly Olynyk led the Jazz with a season-high 28 points to go with 13 rebounds and six assists.
First Quarter
The Jazz fell behind early 17-11 thanks to a hot Grizzlies start.
Ochai Agbaji scored seven first quarter points while Kelly Olynyk added six points and seven rebounds.
Okay, Ochai 👀👀#TakeNotehttps://t.co/ZRjTAvllRd
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 16, 2023
Collin Sexton subbed out in the first quarter with a left hamstring injury and was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game.
After one the Jazz trailed the Grizzlies 38-24.
Second Quarter
Juan Toscano-Anderson made his debut for the Jazz knocking down a quick three while adding a layup and four rebounds in the first half.
Agbaji upped his total to 12 points to lead the Jazz, while the Grizzlies were led by 16 from Jaren Jackson Jr.
Welcome to Utah, @juanonjuan10!!🏔#TakeNote https://t.co/6Gqw71myjH
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 16, 2023
The Grizzlies knocked down 10-23 from three in the first half while the Jazz were just 3-19.
At the break, the Jazz trailed Memphis 63-47.
Third Quarter
Olynyk gave the Jazz a spark in the third quarter upping his scoring total to 18, and cutting the Grizzlies lead to 14, 74-60.
The Jazz continued to trim the Grizzlies’ lead throughout the quarter thanks to a strong debut from Damian Jones who scored four points and grabbed two rebounds in just two minutes.
Damian Jones is putting in work in his Jazz debut 😤#TakeNotehttps://t.co/iGZs8ozrVr
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 16, 2023
Toscano-Anderson hit a layup to end the third quarter to up his scoring total to seven and trim the Grizzlies lead to eight.
After three the Jazz trailed Memphis 88-80.
Fourth Quarter
The Jazz came out firing in the fourth quarter, and after back-to-back threes, cut the Grizzlies lead to just three.
Dillon Brooks answered with a key defensive stop against Jordan Clarkson and a three to rebuild the Memphis lead to nine, 105-96 with 5:24 left to play.
Back-to-back threes from the @utahjazz and they have trimmed the @memgrizz lead to just 3 with 8:43 left to play.
Jazz trailed by as much as 24 in this one. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/NMxSOHgkv4
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 16, 2023
The Jazz strung together a late 13-2 run to trim the Grizzlies lead to just one, 111-110.
Ultimately the Jazz struggled to execute down the stretch and fell to Memphis 117-111.
Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops or on Instagram @BensHoops.
