Keyonte George hit the game-winner with 2.1 seconds left.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz fans cheer as Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) slides down the floor after making the game-winning basket with 2.1 seconds left on Friday night.
The Utah Jazz went two straight years without beating a team at the top of the NBA conference.
That came on April 8, 2023, when the Jazz picked up a win over a Denver Nuggets team that wasn’t fully focused on the regular season. But since then, the Jazz have had rare wins against the NBA’s best teams — really, rare wins of any kind.
That changed on Boxing Day, when the 24-6 Pistons came to the Delta Center as the top team in the Eastern Conference and lost to the upstart Jazz 131-129.
Unlike many NBA games, this result did not come with caveats. Both teams entered rested and almost injury-free – only Walker Kessler’s season-ending injury without standing. The Pistons spent the last two days in Park City; Jazz was also at home. Both teams even shot the ball well from deep, at 48% each – no shot variance created crazy results here.
And the Jazz, despite not being in a playoff position, came out victorious.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (30) blocks a shot by Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart (28).
“Everybody was locked in. From the shootout to when everybody went home and then coming into the arena, we were ready to win this game,” Jazz guard Keyonte George said.
It was the duo of George and forward Lauri Markkanen that powered the Jazz again.
The third-year guard is coming off a monster breakout season and is a real contender for the MVP trophy; he had 31 points on Friday. The biggest two markers came in the final 75 seconds of the game, one a breakaway steal that pushed the Jazz lead to four with 1:14 remaining, the other a game-winning layup with 2.1 seconds left that ended up being the game-winner.
Meanwhile, Markkanen is staking his claim to the NBA All-Star Game. He is the NBA’s 10th-leading scorer at 27.8 points per game, adding 30 in this one. His shooting threat, second in the NBA behind Steph Curry, helps George get open for his looks.
It is remarkable that as the Jazz social media accounts pointed out on Friday, George and Markkanen’s combined points per game average (51.8) would be the highest of any duo in Jazz history.
The most impressive aspect of Friday’s performance was how the Jazz fared against the league’s second-best defense. This season, the Pistons allowed just 112 points per game, the Jazz beat that mark by 19.
“Our guards did an amazing job of making decisions,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “Keyonte and (Isaiah Collier) make a lot of really good decisions every night and give their teammates great looks.
They are aware of each other’s strengths. When Brice (Sensabaugh) is open, we try to shoot him. When (Jusuf Nurkic) has a seal against the little guy, we’re trying to get him the ball,” Hardy continued to explain. “I think our team is doing a good job seeing that right now, and it’s creating a lot of really good momentum in the locker room.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) goes for the goal as Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart (28) defends him.
Momentum is one applicable word. Hope is different.
Those running the Jazz — Hardy, president of basketball operations Austin Ainge, general manager Danny Ainge and owner Ryan Smith — for the first time in a long time, have some hope that these pieces could make something real.
The two-man play of Markkanen and George has brought real energy to the Jazz, who now run an overall above-average league offense. Ace Bailey (who missed the second half of the game with a left hip flexor strain, the severity of which was not yet known by the team as of Friday night) appears to have considerable potential. Kessler also looks like a building block.
That alone is definitely not enough. The Jazz will need to find other parts of their core moving forward. Depth is more important than ever in the NBA, and the Jazz still lack an unquestionable super-duper star who can push average players forward.
They are as far from the league-leading Thunder as Salt Lake City is to Australia. The game was the Jazz’s first win in five games, and their defense is still blindingly abysmal.
And to be clear, the plan is still to intentionally lose games this season to keep their top 8 protected pick. Markkanen will sit at times and George may have to too. The management of the team intends to be in the lottery this season, not in the play-in tournament.
But there could be something to build on. I asked Collier what he took away from the fact that the team beat the best in the East.
“That we are capable,” Collier said.
Maybe capable of something more.
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