The Jazz fall in a closer than expected game against the Warriors
By Dan Lower
As the Jazz have struggled since the trade deadline, they have looked for a statement game, or a breakout from any player to get things moving in the right direction again.
That moment arrived on Wednesday night, as Keyonte George stepped up in a big way to keep the Jazz in a game that looked lost at times before a furious comeback in the 4th got them within striking distance in the final 2 minutes.
Keyonte scored from deep all night long, hitting 3-pointers from all over, answering the bell in the 4th quarter, and showing no fear against a Golden State team that tried getting into his head much of the night.
At one point he got a technical for jawing with Draymond Green of the Warriors, who also received one for the exchange.
The rook had 33 points and 6 assists on the night, in 41 minutes of play.
He tied an NBA record for most 3-pointers made in a single game, by a rookie, with 9 makes on the night. Yogi Ferrell and Rodrique Beaubois are the other two players with 9 made three-pointers in a game as rookies.
His backcourt mate, Collin Sexton, had 35 points and 9 assists in 34 minutes.
The Warriors, like the Jazz were playing on the 2nd night of a back-to-back, and both teams looked tired at times. But they had no problems shooting from deep (47.6% for the Warriors vs. 44.9% for the Jazz on the night).
Ultimately, a few miscues cost the Jazz in this one—John Collins' failure to get the ball back out to a shooter with under 10 seconds remaining being the final one that cost the Jazz a chance to tie the game, and he showed the frustration in the moment.
The Final score was Warriors 140, Jazz 137.
Utah heads into the All-Star break at 26-30 on a 4-game skid, and are sitting at 11th in the Western Conference and 2.5 games back of Golden State for the 10 seed and a play-in berth. The Jazz resume play on Thursday, February 22 at home against the Charlotte Hornets (13-41).