With the win over the Nets, the Jazz make it two wins in a row for the first time this season

BROOKLYN, New York – With a 105-94 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, the Utah Jazz suddenly won two games in a row.

Both came on the road (Utah has only won two games at the Delta Center) and both were anything but pretty. On Thursday in Detroit, the Jazz had a dogfight – at times in the truest sense of the word. On Saturday, Utah endured a miserable offensive start in Brooklyn.

The Jazz had five players score in double figures – led by Lauri Markkanen with 21 points – but were shooting just 38%, including 10% from 3-point range, early in the game in the first quarter.

In the end, however, it was a comfortable win for Utah. The Jazz held an opponent under 100 points for the second time this season and even went up by 20 points in the second half.

“That’s two games in a row that we won ugly,” said Jazz coach Will Hardy, whose team won consecutive games for the first time this season. “It wasn’t just because of the good offense throughout the game. There are nights in the NBA where you can win just by making a lot of shots.”

Saturday was not one of those evenings. The Jazz shot 14 of 41 from 3-point range and were just 47% from the field. Markkanen struggled to make 3 of 13 goals from behind the arc.

“We didn’t make any shots in the first half, but we stayed in the game with our physicality and defense,” Markkanen said.

Utah scored just 19 points in the first quarter but had taken the lead for good by the end of the first half. Hardy said the Jazz’s response to their first-quarter struggles makes him optimistic about his group’s continued development.

“The fact that we won these two away games and prevailed against a strong offense makes me proud as a coach,” said Hardy. “The team competes at a high level. She is flexible, defensive and efficient.”

All good things, right? Well, that depends on who you ask.

With the win, the Jazz improved to 7-20 and are now in fifth place in the Tank Race. And they lost to a team that is clearly in the lottery on Saturday.

After a surprising start to the season, Brooklyn traded point guard Dennis Schroder to the Golden State Warriors last week to get even worse. And well, the Nets certainly looked pretty bad against Utah.

Brooklyn went 7 of 41 from 3-point range and accomplished a rare feat by committing more turnovers (19) than the Jazz (18).

The Jazz played well, but against a team that was built to lose. That undoubtedly meant some Jazz fans were arguing about the back-to-back wins – particularly given the outcome of Saturday’s game.

Utah was led by Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, John Collins and Svi Mykhailiuk against the Nets, each scoring at least 13 points. That’s three veterans (Sextom, Clarkson and Collins) who are expected to enter trade talks by the February deadline, and one journeyman (Mykhailiuk) who is unlikely to be part of the team’s long-term future.

What about Utah’s young players? Well, Keyonte George missed the game with an ankle injury, Brice Sensabaugh had 8 points and 18 minutes, Isaiah Collier was scoreless in 16 minutes and Walker Kessler struggled with foul trouble but finished the game with 5 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in 21 minutes .

Cody Williams and Kyle Filipowski are currently with the Salt Lake City Stars.

Lottery odds and development talks aside, the team is just happy to have a pair in the win column.

“There have been some difficult moments here over the last three weeks,” Hardy said. “But I think the way the team just keeps working every day, not focusing too much on the last game and continuing to push forward, is something we have to stick with because it’s going to get harder.” us.”