The Jazz continue to be inconsistent when it comes to the final score. After the dominant performance Utah put on against Portland, they get blown out 141-99 at the hands of the Sacramento Kings.
It felt like they were going for their second straight game of playing competitive basketball. The Jazz opened up minutes for 11 guys in the first 15 minutes of play with the returns of Lauri Markkanen and Kyle Filipowski. They only trailed the Kings 26-23 in the first quarter and held them to 44% from the field.
Sacramento opened the cracks the moment the second quarter began. They sorted out their three-ball, and the Jazz lost their only competent skillset. 7 of their 12 turnovers came in the second quarter alone. Sacramento had a 21-8 advantage in points off the bench thanks to Kings guard Kevin Huerter, who recorded a season-high 23 points on 9/13 shooting, and became the spark that created the large lead differential at halftime. After going scoreless in Q1, Sabonis finished with 7 points at halftime.
The Jazz veterans couldn’t buy a shot in the first half, but made their contribution in the third to cut the lead as short as 15. John Collins knocked down 3/4 triples while Sexton recorded 2/2 from downtown. Their rotation grew to 12 players when Svi Mykhailiuk checked in with 5 minutes remaining. However, the Kings added more fire to the flame on a 22-6 run to grow their lead to 26. From this point on, it was just punch after punch to the gut from the result of lacking effort defensively and unforced turnovers.
The real kicker was Doug McDermott going bonkers in garbage time, who scored 18 points in 8 minutes off 6/7 triples. Finishing blow.
What? Walker Kessler is evolving!
Utah Jazz v Sacramento Kings Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images
The first half was dominated by Kessler’s tantalizing defense over Domantas Sabonis. He held the Lithuanian star scoreless (0-3) in his 8-minute stint in the first quarter. The strength training he worked on during the offseason is now starting to pan out. Opponents try to drive into him and are met by a solid brick wall at the rim.
Since returning from injury (7 games), he’s put up 13.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 rebounds and only allows 37.3% DFG.
That brings us to the evergrowing Kessler rumors that are ramping up as the team reaches closer to the trade deadline. Can the Jazz afford to lose a rising rim protector if his value is at its peak? Just around the offseason, he’ll be turning 24 years old, meaning it’s now or never for the Jazz to give the Auburn big man the rookie extension.
Markkanen struggles to return to form
Utah Jazz v Sacramento Kings Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images
After Lauri sat out the blowout win in Portland due to “back injury management” he missed the opportunity to build a bounce-back performance after a rough stretch of games as of late.
And thus, he struggled in his comeback. He shot a poor 1-7 from the field during the first half to go along with 3 turnovers. To add more kindling, he had the worst plus/minus out of all the starters with -25 in 25 minutes, Yeah, it wasn’t fun.
While he was active as an outlet on the transition and finding the oppurtunities the score, teams are tightly pressuring him to force some tough contests on the key.
John Collins outplayed our $238M max extension player once again. It’s a mix of both an overperforming Collins and an underperforming Lauri. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that his back injury has been lingering all season. He’s been effective when using his extra step to drive to the basket, but finds himself in a stir with the defense where his teammates don’t have the vision to find him.
The “Lauri Markkanen can be a first option” narrative has been false for a while. Once the Jazz obtain a genuine floor general, Markkanen will continue to look a little softspoken.
Keyonte George finds his cushioning
Utah Jazz v Sacramento Kings Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images
It’s been an underwhelming stretch for the second year Jazz guard. He scored under 20 points in his last 5 games. He played with excellent pace despite the burning debris around him. He attacked the basket, got good looks from 3 and made a couple plays in transition to force a tiny run the Jazz had in the third quarter.
There’s been some discussion on Keyonte George’s role in the future. In his first two seasons Will Hardy has tried to fit him in a pinhole mold to be an offensive-heavy point. He had some flashes in season 1 where he had 3 games with 10+ assists. In 2025, he’s seen a regression where he’s more focused on carrying the scoring load when Markkanen doesn’t have the green light. Tonight looked like more of the same.
There’s the possibility his future holds him moving to the SG position where his focus his purely putting the ball into the hoop, similar to Trey Burke’s role. In the time being, he’s confident in still being the point guard of the future so it may be too early for Jazz fans to write him off.
Up Next
Jazz return back home at the Delta Center on December 13th for their NBA Cup consolation games, as they take on the Phoenix Suns at 7:30 PM MT. This team’s had their share of struggles as of late, losing their last 3 games to conventionally bad teams