The Utah Jazz cruise along for their 10th consecutive loss in a 106-93 loss in the Delta Center against the Chicago Bulls. They led as much as 4 in the second quarter, but Chicago pulled away by outscoring them in both quarters of the second half. Shooting 21% from three and turning the ball over 17 times will not win you many basketball games.
Another important loss tonight, with the Jazz building more separation between them and the Wizards. They move down to 15-54, compared to Washington’s 15-51 record. However as of now, it looks like they’ll be losing to Portland tonight. There’s a large gap between a play-in team — like the Bulls — compared to where the Jazz are at right now.
The Walker Kessler experiment
Chicago Bulls v Utah Jazz Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images
It was Sunday’s matchup against Minnesota when Walker Kessler put up six three-point attempts — converting one of those makes in his 30 minutes of play. Coach Will Hardy said the target was go get him around 6 attempts a night. His all-defense resurgence has been one of the stories this season, but having him take an absurd amount of triples a night has been on no one’s bingo card.
He went a blank 0/5 from deep in tonight’s matchup, we will see how long this experiment lasts before it’s shut down. Some foul trouble early prevented Kessler from making a noticeable impact tonight.
Given he’s eligible for a rookie extension this off-season, it’s no surprise the Jazz are testing his limits before they cough up a large chunk of money.
The Cody Williams and Matas Buzelis debate
Chicago Bulls v Utah Jazz Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
Tonight was the story of how far these rookies have progressed since they were drafted. Williams (10th overall) and Buzelis (11th overall). Both of them were inserted into the starting lineup tonight, and both produced drastically different results. Cody seemed timid at times, and the attempts he did put up seemed shaky.
The Jazz passed up on Matas Buzelis on draft night. He knew it and used it as motivation tonight to hand Utah their 10th-straight loss. Shooting was the biggest swing entering his rookie year, but his progressive improvement — especially his rim protection — has been a nice surprise. He forced the Jazz to respect his shot tonight and took advantage when they attacked on closeouts.
Fans should understandably be worried about Williams. The motor has not been revving.
The Jazz will face the Wizards on Wednesday at 7 PM MT for their most anticipated matchup of the season. The winner will be a whole one-game back of the #1 pick odds in the draft lottery.