Game Recap: Jazz Fall to the Cavaliers 124-113

The Utah Jazz (7-21) lost to the league record holder, the Cleveland Cavaliers (26-4). The Jazz played a perfect game for a tank team. They played a close game, were able to make up a significant deficit (17) and lost in the end. This game should be titled “Murphy’s Law Game”. Everything that could have happened happened. Let’s go through some of these things.

Walker Kessler struggles at the free throw line

As far as I can remember, this is the first game where I saw Walker Kessler really go crazy. In the final minutes of the game, the exceptionally well-coached Cavs began fouling Walker every time he tried to set up a screen. Walker missed five straight times before making his final free throw of the game. Walker shot 1-6 from the free throw line; his free throws need to improve if he wants to stay in the final lineup. This won’t be the last team to intentionally foul Walker in the final minutes of the game.

Walker Kessler had 16 rebounds and 3 blocks

Don’t twist it; Walker struggled at the free throw line. However, his influence was mostly felt on the defensive side of the ball. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are one of the best rebounding duos in the league. Walker fended them all off and showed his strength as a rebounder and rim protector. These two things alone will help Walker have a very successful career.

Lauri Markkanen shoots threes again

Lauri has had an interesting start to the season, and injuries and squad composition have certainly contributed to this. What was extremely noticeable, however, was that Lauri shot fewer 3s. After making a career-high 8 three-pointers per game last season, Lauri started the season with just under 6 goals per game. Now healthy, Lauri is up to 7.1 per game, and I bet that number will only increase as the season progresses. Lauri shot 6-14 from deep tonight.

Diploma:

The Jazz played really well tonight against an excellent team. They showed resilience, defended the perimeter well and had three players score 24 or more. They lost too; The reality is that losing brings the Jazz closer to winning, by a lot.

Next:

Jazz face Portland on December 26th