The Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans clashed on Saturday night in a game where both teams were without of some of their best players. Zion Williamson and C.J. McCollum were out for the Pelicans, while the Jazz were without the Finnisher Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson. This all but doomed the Jazz before tip-off, as the club was struggling already while fully healthy.
Now with no Markkanen? How was the Jazz going to win? Cue Collin Sexton, who went off in the fourth quarter, going 3-5, for eight points from the floor in the fourth quarter, helping the Jazz close out the comeback attempt. The fourth-quarter was huge for the squad, as they were able to up 37 points in the final quarter, helping the Jazz snap a four-game losing streak.
For Sexton, it was proof that he's being held back some by the current setup that the Jazz have, and was proof that he should be getting more minutes. His team-high 16 points wasn't all he brought to the victory but also had a team-high in assists with six, topping the five that Keyonte George had. Not only did he have more assists than George, but he had fewer turnovers too.
Sexton had two on the night, while George had an equal share of turnovers to assists, with five on the night.
While Sexton was important to the win, the Jazz saw big minutes from Omer Yurtseven, who had a BPM of +4 for the night. The backup big hasn't seen a lot of minutes but with Markkanen out, someone had to fill in for him, and that meant an opportunity for Yurtseven to get some minutes. What made his play so impressive was that Walker Kessler finally returned from injury and was played off the bench for the night.
The tandem did some nice things in leave of one another and it may be something we see more of. We also got to see more Kris Dunn, finally, and he looked great. It's not a surprise to anyone that when Dunn, Kessler, and Ochai Agbaji get big minutes, the defense looks better. Here's hoping the team continues to shuffle things around a bit more, as it clearly worked.