The exhausted Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies met up in Utah after playing on the back end of back-to-backs, and the Grizzlies won out 137-128.
Utah, who rested Lauri Markkanen from a nagging groin injury, wasn’t able to keep up with the firepower of Santi Aldama and the Memphis Grizzlies. Aldama scored 37, shooting 7/13 from three and 13/21 from the field. The Grizzlies, in general, were good across the board, shooting 42.2% from three as a team, and Utah couldn’t keep up. They also have length at so many positions, and it was too much for the Jazz to overcome.
For Utah, they had some nice performances from Kyeonte George, Taylor Hendricks, and Kyle Filipowski. George continues to build himself into the leader this team needs. George looked visibly winded because of the back-to-back and still managed to shoot 50% from the field, 50% from three, and 8/9 from the free throw line. Kyle Filipowski also took advantage of his minutes with a team-leading 25 points on great efficiency. Finally, Taylor Hendricks got some real run and was extremely efficient with it. He shot 7/10 from the field and 2/4 from three. He also grabbed 4 rebounds, threw 1 assist, and had 3 steals. It’s just an issue of time and comfort for Hendricks, who is proving to be a high-level three-point shooter. The biggest issue for Hendricks, and the team in general, is defense. But that might be something that the Jazz worry about next season.
Finally, we have to talk about Ace Bailey, who had a nice bounce-back game with 17 points on 7/12 shooting. Bailey is proving that, at worst, he’s going to be an elite shooter. But each game he shows a little more and more in his game. The only thing holding him back is time and reps, because he’s going to get better and better as time goes on. If he can start handling the ball more as the season progresses, that would be so good for his game because it’s clear that the catch-and-shoot element is already great.
For Utah, they are now on the right track to keeping their pick and hopefully rising in the ranks to get more lottery balls. It’s the right thing to do and something they will continue this season as they continue to hope for a chance at someone like AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson.