Keyonte George nearly led the team to a comeback win. After going down 41-28 in the first quarter, the Jazz were able to put up a 33-21 fourth quarter. The Jazz still fell by eight, but considering they were missing five of their six best players, a moral victory was earned.
George had a big night, going 8-16 from the floor, and 4-11 from the three-point, while adding 5-5 from the free-throw line for a total of 25 points.
While his three-point numbers were average at best, he helped lead the way to a big night against the Step Curry-less Golden State Warriors.
In fact, he and his fellow rookies all had a nice night, at least in regard to the advanced metrics of it all. Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh had a +2 and a +1 BPM on the night, and George was able to put up a -1 BPM. Not great, admittedly, but as the Jazz are 29-49, anything close to a 0 or +1 BPM is acceptable.
Johnny Juzang had a huge night to, but we're going to talk about him in another article.
George's offensive output was great to see against the Warriors but it's worth noting that while he had a good game, he had it without having to deal with Curry.
Not to mention, defensively, he still allowed the Warriors to go off on him. Chris Paul, Brandon Podziemski, and Klay Thompson all had big games, with Thompson posting 32 points. Once a vaunted three-point shooter who could torch great defenses, Thompson having a big game against a team is now far more rare, and far more indicative of poor defensive performances, as opposed to super-human outings.
The Jazz looked good in the second half but sadly, this looks to be the last best opportunity for the Jazz to get their 30th win. They have now lost 12 games in a row, and are 3-23 since February 28, with their last win coming on March 15, 2024.
The Jazz have the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, and a final showdown with the Warriors before the season comes to a close.