Utah Jazz vs Oklahoma City Thunder: Summary and Final Score

On By Littum

For the Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Utah Jazz, it took 54 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It’s a loss, but it’s an impressive loss for the Jazz to lose close to the Thunder, 123-114.

Yes, the Thunder were missing Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, but Utah had multiple leads in this game and kept it close until the end. The reason SGA scored 54 points was because he had to.

It’s a game that bodes well for the Jazz now and in the future. Against intense pressure from the OKC Thunder’s perimeter defense, the Utah Jazz found ways to score consistently and spread throughout the team. Outside of SGA, who scored 54, the most dominant performance came from Walker Kessler, who had 17 points and 15 rebounds. Kessler is turning into a force inside night after night. That type of consistency is the type of thing that can make a player a star in the league. I’m not sure Kessler will ever be an all-star, but he will definitely be a top-ten center in the league for a long time.

Lauri Markkanen was able to start again in this one and continued to fall in his last game. It’s hard to tell if it’s the focus of opposing defenses or if he’s just struggling to shoot, but the three-point shooting for the season is under 40%. In the 7 games before this one, Markkanen has shot 32% from three. Tonight he shot 3/10. It’s probably just a small drop, but for the season, Markkanen’s numbers are on the way down. Is it just a down year or is there more to it? Time will tell.

Finally, Utah’s guards struggled from the field, but we’re seeing some exciting shots from three. Keyonte George shot 2/5 from three and Isaiah Collier shot 2/4. The exciting thing from George tonight was his passing. 10 assists is no small thing. And when you consider that Isaiah Collier shot 2/4 from three is another good sign. The biggest thing for guards is consistency. They keep getting better and better, and it makes you wonder what things will look like next year if they both take a leap. Is the duo of Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier a potential backcourt of the future? take a leap.