The Utah Jazz came up victorious against the San Antonio Spurs, marking their second victory of the season. It's a momentous occasion not just because they won but because Isaiah Collier got the start in his long-awaited NBA debut.
Okay, his real debut was against the Bucks, but it was garbage time, which was a rather odd decision. His real debut happened against the Spurs, where he got to play actual minutes in a hard-fought victory.
Collier put up as realistic of a statline as one can expect from the debut of a late first-round pick for a team that's slated to be one of the NBA's very worst. In almost 25 minutes of action, Colliers put up seven points, six rebounds, and four assists while shooting three-for-nine from the field (all from inside the arc).
The Jazz had more impressive guard play from Collin Sexton, but Collier is a rookie, and even though he's NBA-ready, he has a long leash. His debut was more noteworthy than Cody Williams's was on opening night.
But there was something else worth noting about Collier's real NBA debut.
He cut down on the turnovers a lot
Collier showed his NBA finesse against the Spurs, even if he didn't really light up the box score that much. He showed how he can score inside the arc, and better than that, he can draw fouls, which is pretty impressive not just because he's young, but because he's smaller than the average NBA player.
LOOK AT ISAIAH COLLIER HOOPING pic.twitter.com/X3IG3bTG81
— Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) November 9, 2024
Collier didn't dominate the preseason, but he showed why the Jazz picked him in 2024. Despite his skills, there was one red flag - he couldn't stop turning the ball over. He didn't play that many minutes in the preseason, yet he had 16 turnovers combined in four games.
That wasn't the case against the Spurs, as he only had one turnover overall. Collier played the most minutes he's played since coming to the NBA - and this includes preseason - but he had good ball control. He may not have been the biggest factor in their win over the Spurs, but he didn't hurt them.
Since Keyonte George was also out with an injury, Collier's job was to simply keep the Jazz's head above water, and he did that. The win had a whole lot of other factors, primarily Sexton and John Collins, but Collier cleared the bar was set for him, and for the time being, that's all the Jazz need.