On Tuesday night, the Utah Jazz defeated the San Antonio Spurs 130-118 in a game they trailed by as many as 17 points in the first quarter, had to survive the Spurs’ huge third-quarter rally and gradually pulled away at the end.
And with that, the Jazz are in the midst of their first stretch of good basketball of the season. Utah is on a three-game win streak for the first time this season. The Jazz have won six of eight games, by far their best stretch of the season. They are scoring. They are finding enough defensive stops. They have found a rhythm, seemingly for the first time this year.
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What have they done correctly? What’s working for them?
Rise of the young bull
It’s always funny how sometimes things come about by happenstance. Starting shooting guard Jordan Clarkson having to sit some games because of injury opened the door for Collin Sexton to join the lineup, which was the opportunity he’d been hoping for. Sexton has not only taken full advantage, he’s kicked the door in.
In eight starts, Sexton is averaging almost 23 points per game. He’s been dynamic offensively in both the half court and in transition. He’s changing games with his speed and athleticism. He’s having one of the most efficient seasons of his career.
What Sexton has done even beyond that is play with energy. What he’s tried to do is make good decisions with the basketball in his hands. He’s not the best decision-maker on the team. But coaches notice when you make an effort, and Sexton has made an effort. He’s allowed himself to be coached hard, and that’s one of the reasons he and Will Hardy are developing a special relationship.
For instance, late in Tuesday night’s second half, with the Jazz trying to close out the Spurs, Sexton didn’t close out hard enough on San Antonio guard Keldon Johnson, who splashed a 3-pointer from the corner. Hardy called a timeout, and could be seen yelling at Sexton all the way to the bench. What Sexton has figured out is to ignore whatever tone of voice Hardy addresses him in, and to actually listen to the specific words Hardy is saying. That ability has made him a better player on his end, and it’s made him more playable on Hardy’s end. And that wasn’t the case earlier in the season, or even last season.
Coming into this year, Sexton focused too much on proving himself worthy of Utah’s open starting point guard position. Now, he’s leaning into what he does best as a basketball player. And guess what? What Sexton does best as a basketball player is a great fit for the Utah Jazz starting lineup.
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The Jazz need his rim pressure, because the starters haven’t generated enough of it. The Jazz need his ability to scoot past everyone in transition. They haven’t had enough of that. The Jazz need his bravado. This has too often been a team lacking swagger in key moments of games. Seriously, who tries an off-the-bounce 360 dunk in the middle of a game that’s within a few possessions? That’s what Sexton pulled off against the Spurs.
Collin Sexton bounces it to himself for the self lob! 😲
Jazz-Spurs | Live on the NBA App
📲 https://t.co/zV136vkRBz pic.twitter.com/UVTfE0diYn— NBA (@NBA) December 27, 2023
But getting back to the fit of it all, it is clear that Sexton plays better as a starter. Having more touches in the offense and having Kelly Olynyk serve as a de facto playmaker within that offense has done Sexton a ton of good. And it is clear that it doesn’t affect Clarkson’s game one bit if he comes off the bench. He’s still going to be the same player, he’s still going to close out games, and truthfully, he can just come in and destroy second units. It leads to believe that this change might be one with some permanence, especially seeing how flawlessly Clarkson adjusted to being a sixth man in the two games that he’s been back in the lineup.
Lean with it, rock with it
There is a faction of Jazz fans who are upset at Walker Kessler not being in the starting lineup, and they probably have a point. Kessler, after a really rough start to this season, is playing well.
He’s protecting the rim at the level he did last season. He’s catching and finishing in traffic. He’s running the floor hard and creating mismatches in transition. He even hit a corner 3 on Tuesday night in San Antonio.
But the offense was clogged at the beginning of the season. With Olynyk, the offense has become unclogged.
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Let’s be clear. The Jazz aren’t getting many defensive stops with Olynyk in the lineup, especially with Olynyk as the last line of defense at the center spot. But the offense is running so much better with Olynyk in the lineup. The Jazz can run their five-out scheme around Olynyk and Lauri Markkanen. It’s opening space for Sexton and Markkanen to get paint touches, whether they are off the dribble or whether they’re moving without the basketball.
What’s going to be interesting to see is what happens to Kris Dunn. Because of rookie Keyonte George’s foot injury, Dunn has been in the starting lineup, and he’s been terrific. He’s provided point-of-attack defense. He’s always been an exceptional rebounder for a guard, and he’s always been a calming influence on the floor.
But George is back now. So, if the Jazz move him back into the lineup, that takes away Dunn’s defense, which takes away any defense to speak of in the starting lineup. But since George is so immensely talented and a rookie, the guess here is that the Jazz think big picture and eventually put George back with the starters.
Either way, Hardy has leaned into this team offensively. He had to pick a lane and he’s done that with spacing and shooting and having guys on the floor who can bend a defense. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s been a solution that has improved the Jazz over the last few weeks.
All in
The season is still technically in its early stages, but Hardy deserves a lot of credit here.
This group has not been easy to coach, and certainly not as easy to coach as last year’s group.
Last year’s group had Mike Conley, who was, and remains, an all-time galvanizer. Hardy doesn’t have anyone in the locker room with that kind of cachet to relay what he wants to the team.
And this year’s team doesn’t have a problem child or anything like that. It’s far from that. In fact, this is a group of nice guys, pretty much down to a man. But, the majority of this roster is playing for something, and something that requires a lot of playing time to get. For instance, there are multiple expiring deals on the roster. There are people like Sexton, who are young in their career and who wants to prove himself as a starter. People like George and Hendricks are rookies trying to gain a footing in the league. It goes on and on. There is a lot to placate, and this is a roster that doesn’t fit in several places. There are some serious flaws.
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But the Jazz have started playing better basketball. They are starting to make sense on the floor. Hardy is demanding a certain style of play, and guys are coming around to it. As he did last season, Hardy’s been generous with his lineups. He’s mixed and matched until he’s found things that have worked. On Tuesday night, it was Markkanen at the center spot, a move that allowed his star to dominate the fourth quarter and finish with a game-high 31 points.
At this point of the season, Markkanen might be the only guy on the roster guaranteed to close games every night. Clarkson comes close to this threshold as well. Anyone else? It depends on what is working that night against whatever opponent is on the other side of the floor. On one hand it creates a healthy amount of internal competition. On the other, guys know that if they want to play, they are going to have to play the correct way.
It won’t always be perfect. But Hardy has coached resiliency and toughness into this specific group and they have responded by not letting go of the rope like some others have around the league, even at this early December date.
(Photo: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)
