Jazz 3-18 Since Trade Deadline After Loss To Spurs
Mar 27, 2024, 10:32 PM | Updated: Mar 28, 2024, 10:31 am
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz suffered their seventh straight loss after falling to the San Antonio Spurs 118-111 on Wednesday.
Collin Sexton scored 26 points, marking his ninth straight 20-point game for the Jazz.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 31 points.
Related: Recapping the Jazz Loss To The Spurs
Jazz Have Worst Record Since Trade Deadline
With their 18th loss in their last 21 outings, the Jazz have the worst record in the NBA since the trade deadline, and are in the midst of their worst 20-game stretch since 2014.
Despite winning the second, third, and fourth quarters, the Jazz were outscored 29-15 in the first period and never erased the massive deficit to open the game.
“When you start the game that way, and you dig yourself a hole, everything’s amplified for the rest of the game,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “Every turnover feels like the weight of the world.”
The @utahjazz play a 12-man rotation in the first quarter and trail the @spurs 29-15.
#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/FCCaFCfqqf— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 28, 2024
The Jazz committed nine of their 21 turnovers in the first quarter, including two each from John Collins, Kira Lewis Jr., and Walker Kessler.
Keyonte George bounced back from his recent poor shooting streak knocking down 5-12 field goal attempts en route to a 14-point, eight-assist outing, but committed five turnovers in the loss.
“I’m asking a lot of Keyonte, and I think for the most part, he’s handling it very well,” Hardy added. “He played almost 40 minutes and he had the ball a lot.”
At 3-18 since the trade deadline, the Jazz now sit behind the 4-19 Portland Trail Blazers as the league’s worst team since February 8.
A More Aggressive Markkanen
Though wins are of little importance to the Jazz at this point in the season, Lauri Markkanen has shown a willingness to be more aggressive in the team’s last two losses, especially when getting the rim.
Markkanen has had six dunks on eight attempts in his last two outings, a healthy number after seeing his finishes on top of the rim dip from last season.
After setting a career-high with 111 dunks last season, Markkanen has seen his total drop to 77 this year, including a dip from his 2.0 dunks per game average to 1.6 heading into Monday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Lauri Markkanen’s aggressiveness over the last two games is reminiscent of how he looked last year.
Forceful cuts to the rim resulting in a ton of dunks, and we just haven’t seen that as much this year.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) March 28, 2024
“I wanted Lauri on the court,” Hardy said of Markkanen’s 42-minute outing against San Antonio. “We talked a bunch and he said that he was feeling pretty good and wanted to keep going. So we just let him ride.”
The forward followed up his strong 38-point performance against the Mavericks with a 25-point, six-rebound night against the Spurs.
If the Jazz plan to chase the playoffs next season, they’ll need a more aggressive Marrkanen throughout the year, and the last two games are a good start.
Jazz Lottery Standings Watch After Spurs Loss
With Wednesday’s loss, the Jazz fell to 29-44 on the season.
The loss, teamed with a Hawks win puts the Jazz a full 4.5 games clear of Atlanta who owns the 10th-worst record in the NBA with just nine games left to play.
With little to no chance of surpassing the Hawks in the final standings, the Jazz can now turn their attention to the Brooklyn Nets who own the league’s eighth-worst record.
Related: What Happens If Jazz Win The Draft Lottery?
Brooklyn overcame the Washington Wizards in overtime on Wednesday to win their 28th game of the season, as the Nets and Jazz are separated by just one game in the standings.
If the Jazz were to be leapt by the Nets in the final standings, their odds of moving into the top four picks of the 2024 draft would jump from 20.2 to 26.2 via the May 12 lottery.
If the two teams finished the season with the same record, they would split an even 23.2 percent chance of moving into the top four spots, with a coin toss deciding who would draft eighth, and who would draft ninth if neither team won the lottery.
Utah Jazz Next Broadcast
The Jazz will face the Houston Rockets on Friday at 7:30 pm MST in Salt Lake City. The game will be televised on KJZZ, streamed on Jazz+, and can be heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone.
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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.
