The Utah Jazz, in the midst of their resilient back-to-back victory over the Houston Rockets, had a handful of notable bright spots that helped lead this team to a much-better end result than was seen the day before in a 28-point blowout loss the day prior.

Lauri Markkanen had another day of offensive mastery with 29 points over 50% shooting from the field, Keyonte George kept the momentum flowing for his third-year breakout with 28 points himself, and even Jusuf Nurkic chipped in for 18 points of his own.

But among the Jazz’s contributors on the roster, Will Hardy made sure to give a special shout-out to one key name that, in his mind, had his best outing as a pro in his career thus far: first-year guard Walt Clayton Jr.

“I do want to shout out Walt [Clayton Jr.]. It’s his best game as a pro, by far,” Hardy said postgamr. “He played really decisive basketball on both sides, came up with a couple of big rebounds, six assists. found Lauri [Markkanen] for a transition for a big three, late, had some great drives downhill in the first half.”

Will Hardy Shouts Out Walter Clayton After Win vs. Rockets

Clayton, Utah’s 18th-overall pick from earlier this summer, had an all-around effort off the bench in the Jazz’s victory that may have just been his best game in the mix since being drafted five months ago.

In all, Clayton had 21 minutes to put together eight points shooting 37.5%, five rebounds, six assists, and had a team-high +10 plus-minus to help rally together a winning result in a tough back-to-back.

For a rookie that’s seen some ups and downs early in his first year, even spending a short stint in the G League with the Salt Lake City Stars last month, nights like this one against Houston can bring some welcomed confidence for Clayton Jr. the more comfortable he continues to get in his new situation.

In 16 games this year, Clayton has averaged 5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 38.2% shooting with just over 15 minutes a night. But with more well-rounded performances like he was able to post in big games as he did against Houston, there’s reason to believe he’ll find an uptick in opportunity more and more as the season progresses.

“‘I’m really happy for Walt,” Hardy continued. “His minutes have not been super consistent, he’s been a little bit caught in between, especially on the offensive side. He deserves the credit for how he played tonight. I’m really happy for him.”

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