Ugly is the backside of a blobfish (and the front side, they are hideous animals). Yet after last night, I feel the need to paraphrase the 2004 Punisher film, 'If that's what ugly is, then tell me, what was the Utah Jazz's performance from last night, because I don't know.' The tank is on in Salt Lake City, we know that. We know this team is going to keep losing, but we didn't know it'd be so hard to watch.
The Jazz are 3-9 in their last 12, but they haven't been this bad until recently. The recent loss to the Charlotte Hornets was bad, but against the Hawks, it looked like the Jazz just stopped trying. They only scored 18 points in the first quarter, but to their credit, they did cut the lead down a bit. But then they went into half-time down 55-44.
The Hawks further outscored the Jazz 69-53, leaving one of the worst performances of the season right there for all to see as the final seconds ticked down.
John Collins, back in Atlanta since the trade from there in the summer, must've forgotten who he played for because he was letting Hawks score in the paint like he was clearing lanes for them. He also had five turnovers, most on the Jazz, and we're not sure but we're fairly confident thinking some of those were intentional.
If they weren't, he should never take the court again in a Jazz jersey, because yikes. All-time bad performance. Though, Devils Advocate and all that, playing Collins will ensure that the Jazz get their pick back, and also make him untradeable in the process.
Keyonte George shot just 30%, which is horrid. Lauri Markkanen wasn't much better, shooting 31%. By the third, we were hanging up "Missing: Have you seen the Finnisher" posters all over the place.
This team was awful and if this is what we can expect from them moving forward, then this tank may just take out Will Hardy in the process because the lack of motivation on defense and execution on offense is solely on his shoulders. Lose, sure, but lose with some dignity and fight.