SALT LAKE CITY**—The Utah Jazz suffered their ninth straight loss, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-102.
Collin Sexton led the Jazz with 22 points while Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 41.
Game Blog: Jazz Losing Streak Continues In Minnesota
Walker Kessler’s Three-Point Barrage
Entering Sunday’s game, Walker Kessler had attempted six total threes.
Against the Timberwolves, he doubled that number, shooting 1-6 from downtown en route to 15 points and 19 rebounds.
Testing Kessler’s range was a clear goal in Minnesota as the third-year big man attempted two threes in the opening quarter of the game, and added four more attempts in the second half.
Kessler’s loan make came at the top of the key off an Isaiah Collier assist.
things we love to see: Walker threes 💜🤠#TakeNote | @WalkerKessler13 pic.twitter.com/itgvNPkI6A
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 17, 2025
With wins no longer being the primary focus, the team has the freedom to test new skills over the final month of the season.
In Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, Lauri Markkanen worked to create his own shot in isolation situations more than he had previously this season.
Against the Timberwolves, it was testing Kessler’s range.
While player development is traditionally associated with the youngest players on the team, continuing to build out the veteran players skillsets is a worthwhile endeavor at this point in the year.
Kessler has proven that he doesn’t need to be a three-point shooter to be an effective center in the NBA, but with little else to play for his season, why not see what comes of it?
Officially The NBA’s Worst Team
Sunday’s loss, teamed with the Washington Wizards’ highly improbable win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday has dropped the Jazz to the worst record in the NBA this season.
It’s a surprising development considering the Jazz were 4.5 games ahead of the Wizards in the standings on February 28, and have seen that gap disappear entirely in just 17 days.
Since March 1, the Wizards are 5-3 with road wins over playoff teams like the Nuggets and the Detroit Pistons.
ESPN is now projecting the Jazz to finish with the worst record in the NBA. pic.twitter.com/Wx27mHtEea
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) March 15, 2025
The Jazz, meanwhile, are 0-9, including losses to the Wizards, Toronto Raptors, and Philadelphia 76ers.
While the Jazz’s odds of landing a top-four pick in the 2025 NBA remain the same whether finish with the first, second, or third-worst record in the league, it does change how far they can fall in the lottery.
Since only the top four picks in the draft are decided by the lottery, the team with the worst record can fall no further than the fifth selection, while the team with the second-worst record can fall as far as sixth, and so on.
With 14 games left in the season, Utah has the third-most difficult remaining schedule, facing nine teams who currently own top-six records in their conference.
That doesn’t include their season finale against the seventh-ranked Timberwolves, who are just percentages points back of the sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors.
Conversely, the Wizards own the fifth-easiest remaining schedule, including just four games against teams currently ranked within the top six of the Eastern Conference, and 10 games against teams unlikely to make it past the Play-In Tournament.
Next Broadcast
The team will return home to face the Chicago Bulls on Monday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on KJZZ, streamed on Jazz+, and heard on97.5 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, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.