Key Grows, JC Grooves: Observations from Two Jazz-Suns Contests

George (right) continues to show progress. (Francisco Kjolseth, The Salt Lake Tribune)

The Utah Jazz squared off with the Phoenix Suns twice over the weekend, losing both battles by three. Despite the losses, the Jazz showed a lot of competitive spirit and played with a sense of urgency, offensive explosiveness, and energy that hadn’t been seen for a full 48 minutes quite yet in this season. Let’s recap and digest some major takeaways from the pair of Jazz-Suns contests.

Recaps: Three Is The Magic Number… Twice

Those were two of the best, truly competitive losses to watch, with the Jazz losing by three in each game. But, man, that was fun. It was probably fun because the Jazz played up to their potential, showing significant growth from early season woes. This is a season that may be best graded based on growth, and Jazz coach Will Hardy sees plenty. “I think we’re improving,” Hardy told the Athletic. “I think the way we played these two games against the Suns shows we’re improving.” 

On Friday, the Jazz turned the courts purple to take on the Suns first for the In-Season Tournament. Suns superstar Kevin Durant couldn’t quite miss, going off for 38 points on 15-22 shooting as well as 6-8 from deep.  None seemed bigger than a pull-up triple with 18 seconds left that effectively put the game away. The Suns clung to a 126-125 lead going into that possession, but even with a hand in his face, Durant’s bucket was nothing but splash to give the Suns a 4-point lead that would essentially ice the game. For the Jazz, Jordan Clarkson went off for 37 points, including a big three of his own down the stretch, while the other JC (John Collins) had a big double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. The whole team played lights out, especially in the first half as the score went 75-75 after the first 24 minutes. The loss put the Jazz at 2-1 in their Group A tournament standings, sitting now in second place. The Lakers won on Friday night, giving them a 3-0 lead in the standings with a +14 point differential as they sit in the top spot. The two will square off in a TNT-televised battle in Los Angeles on Tuesday, which will essentially decide the group’s champion.

For the second matchup with Phoenix, the Jazz flipped the court back to regular hardwood and hosted the Suns on Sunday, the team’s first regular season Sunday game since 2001. Just like the first matchup, the teams went back and forth in a high-scoring affair that didn’t end until extra basketball was ordained from on high. To end regulation, Lauri Markkanen soared for a rebound after a Clarkson miss, then added the putback with 20 seconds left to tie the game at 115. Devin Booker had a decent look from the wing from three to win the game, but Ochai Agbaji put a hand in his face, and the shot bounced off.

During the extra period, rookie Keyonte George’s attempt at a game-tying floater bounced off, but Collin Sexton beat Eric Gordon on the box out and had a clean layup at the buzzer to send the battle into the second overtime, tied 127-127. The Jazz never led in either overtime period, but Markkanen had a chance to tie with a corner three that would have forced triple OT. Durant challenged the attempt, but was called for a foul at the buzzer. After a Suns challenge and a five-minute review, the call was overturned, with referee Zach Zarba explaining that because Durant got ball first, the other contact is incidental. It was a controversial call, but it ended the game for the Suns to take a 140-137 victory. Markkanen, to his credit, played one of his best games in a Jazz jersey, scoring 38 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. 

Keyonte George: Growing Up and Growing Pains

After both dates with Phoenix, a few things became clear. One is how promising Keyonte George looks with the keys in his hand. Another is, well, he just got his driver’s license and the drive is going to be bumpy for a bit. 

Since his first start on his birthday, George has continued facilitating the offense as the lead point guard. By doing so, he’s helped bring the offense to life as he makes the right reads, is a natural playmaker, and can be a threat to score or facilitate whenever he takes the court. At the same time, there are obvious growing pains connected to George. His two games against Phoenix were decent examples, even just from a regular box score perspective. In game one he finished with 15 points and six assists against three turnovers. In his 29 minutes, the Jazz were +2 with him on the floor. For game two, he delivered 11 assists but also committed five turnovers and shot 2/12 from the field. 

George has also displayed courage and competence down the stretch to make the right plays when the team needed them. For that, you can’t help but admire the young rookie for stepping up. While he missed the shot, he went for the game-winner on Sunday. In the next overtime, he delivered a spot-on, thread-the-needle pass to Collins for an easy basket (which he missed, but alas). He followed that pass with another dime to a cutting Clarkson who felt the defense collapse and spun the ball to Collins for an open corner three (which he made, so yay) that tied the game with a minute left. Could I also recap a few costly turnovers down the stretch? Yes – a critical one with two minutes left in the fourth, one with 90 seconds left in the first OT, and one with three minutes left in the second OT.

There will be bad shots, bad passes, and bad plays, but I am not too concerned given that he is playing big, important minutes to go through the process of being a winner. It’s been impressive, to me, that he is making plays, or trying to make plays, when it matters most. Consider: as a rookie, he is nearly averaging a double-double as a starter with 10.2 points and 8.8 assists per game. Utah picked him up at 16th in the NBA draft, in case you needed a reminder. 

As an aside, this lineup adjustment has also allowed Talen Horton-Tucker to run with the second unit, alongside Sexton, which has been a more natural fit for his body, skill set, and energy to take advantage of other bench units. THT and Sexton both played big roles in the game on Sunday, especially in the fourth quarter before the starters came back to seal the deal. THT posted 25 points with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Sexton had 18 points, including that putback to force another OT, with five rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Together, the two found a good groove against the Suns while filling up the box scores on all the things that needed to get done to make the games competitive. Hopefully, these trends with all the point guards can continue to be true. 

Jordan Clarkson Finding His Groove

Perhaps coincidental, but the inclusion of George into the starting lineup has helped reignite JC’s flame. It could be that the two have similar skillsets and can attack the offense in complementary ways, or it could be that George is looking for the flame as his first option in most offensive sets, or it could be that the two, according to a random Instagram post, are just “The swaggiest backcourt in the NBA.” Regardless, the two are a nice duo. 

In the first four games starting together, JC averaged 31.5 points on 55% shooting. Then, Friday he went off for 37 and Sunday dipped to 22 (and poor efficiency by the way). When asked what has been different for Clarkson during his surge, his top answer was easy: Keyonte George. Together, three-point shot attempts, makes, and percentages are up, which is key for the Jazz to be successful in the shot-for-shot shootout games they get in with their depleted defense. 

Speaking to the media last week, this partnership was brought up. “I think JC is best when he has a lot of space,” rookie Keyonte George said. “He can score in a lot of different ways. You don’t know if he’s gonna dribble around and then end up getting a floater, so you just gotta stay patient. I know he’s gonna make the right play each and every time.” To help, George has been extra mindful to hit Clarkson in the right spots, at the right times, and in ways to make Clarkson’s overall offensive life easier.

It hasn’t been unnoticed by Hardy. “I think Keyonte’s ability to get Jordan and Lauri, in particular, easy rhythm shots, over the course of the game is super helpful for us,” Hardy said. He added, “When you’re a top offensive player on any team and the game plan is centered around stopping you, it’s hard to find clean looks in the game. And so I think Keyonte has helped both of them get a couple of clean looks each game.”

I also appreciate JC being the big brother to George. The swaggiest title may be in jest, but the two have similar enough basketball styles (and hairstyles) that it wouldn’t surprise me if George looks up to JC as a mentor. For him to take that on and provide mentorship will be huge for the beginning of George’s career and trajectory. In that same media session last week, Clarkson praised his rookie. “He just knows how to play,” Clarkson said of George. “He’s very smart and he’s picking up on stuff really quick. You saw him getting into his bag in terms of scoring and stuff. I think he’s shown that he can pass the ball. But he’s just doing a great job of controlling the offense.”

As another aside, I am curious what change to the starting lineup will occur when Walker Kessler comes back from his injury. Ochai Agbaji has been another important starter as of late, doing a lot of good things even when only scoring three points. Will he go to the bench and the Jazz stay big in the frontcourt with the Markkanen-Collins-Kessler lineup? Or, will Hardy move Clarkson to his 6th man role of a few years ago and let George and Agbaji be the backcourt to create a defense-oriented starting unit? 

Lauri Markkanen: A Star 

Both matchups with the Suns proved to me that Markkanen is a star, but for two different reasons. 

With Friday’s game, Markkanen was the focus point of the Sun’s scouting report, thus a star they explicitly planned and prepared for. Yes, he scored 21 points, but the game was tough for the big fella as he shot 5/12. Watching the tape, the Suns sent multiple bodies at him, never let him get comfortable from deep, and bodied him in the paint at a physical, aggressive level that Markkanen doesn’t typically get. Durant, the former MVP, seemed to take the matchup of stars personally as the two were matched up quite frequently, and KD having the upper edge. 

Sunday’s game reinforced Markkanen’s star status with the way he responded to that rough outing two days before. Markkanen played one of the best games in a Jazz jersey, going toe-to-toe with KD and shaking off the Sun’s defensive game plan to erupt for 38 points, while also playing awesome defense with 17 rebounds and two big blocks. He was still under Durant’s skin, with KD chirping a lot in his direction and taking his case to the refs regularly. With that final play, it seemed Markkanen would be rewarded a defining play, at the expense of KD nonetheless, but the call was overturned which ended the game and a chance for Markkanen to add to his (early) game-of-the-year performance. After the game, the two stars got together for a hug, a secret chat, and a laugh, something I wouldn’t have expected to see from a superstar player unless it was with a peer he deemed of equal stature. 

While the standings will show the Jazz with two new losses, there was plenty to take away from competing at a high level against a team that has championship aspirations (yes, I know Bradley Beal didn’t play but Devin Booker and KD are as good of a duo as any other NBA partnership). There doesn’t need to be moral victories or participation trophies, but there should be a sense of confidence knowing you can hang with one of the best offenses in the league and swing with your might. “The end of the game felt like a playoff game,” coach Will Hardy said. Speaking specifically about Keyonte, but applicable to all involved, he added, “Playing in this kind of game against that kind of team, you can’t place a value on that.”