Lauri Markkanen was his team’s best scorer again. However, Markkanen’s good mood did not carry over to victory against the Chicago Bulls.
Jonne Niemeläinen,
STT Sports
8.1. 6:08•Updated 8.1. 9:19
Lauri Markkanen represented by the Utah Jazz lost basketball in the NBA to the Chicago Bulls away from home with a score of 118–126.
Markkanen scored 28 points against his former club and was his team’s best scorer. The Finnish star, who played 36 minutes, also recorded four rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Markkanen played in Chicago from 2017 to 2021. Before moving to the Jazz, he played for one season in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Markkanen made 12/20 free throws and the free throw statistics were 2/3. Two of the seven triples went in.
Markkanen broke his donk record with seven donks.
In Utah’s previous game, Markkanen set a new scoring record when he bagged 49 points.
The Bulls decided the game at the end of the fourth quarter, as the game was still tied 103-103 around the middle of the quarter.
Chicago’s best point guards were Zach LaVine (36/7) and DeMar DeRozan (35/2).
Check out the NBA standings via this link.
“Everyone grows in different ways”
This season, Markkanen has scored 24.6 points per game with 53% shot accuracy and almost 42% three-point accuracy. The readings are by far the best of his NBA career and they have raised Markkanen to pursue a place in the NBA All-Star Game.
Bulls pilot Billy Donovan was asked if he regrets not getting more out of Markkanes when he played for the Bulls. Donovan coached Markkas in his last Bulls season 2020-2021.
– No, because everyone has their own growth period. Everyone grows in different ways, it’s different for everyone. Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum’s and Donovan Mitchell guys like that are impressive players as soon as they enter the league. “When you look at how great players have developed, everyone’s timeline is different,” Donovan said.
of Utah Will Hardy has been significantly better than Markkanen’s previous NBA coaches at building patterns in which the Finn gets the ball in motion.
– When a player’s best years are between the ages of 25 and 30, it’s a bit unfair to judge 21-year-olds and not give them time to develop to their best. Part of their growth is that they go through hardships and challenges. I think many players other than Lauri also belong to this group, Donovan said.
Markkanen has now played five NBA games against the Bulls. In those games, he has scored 23.2 points per game, but the Bulls have won four of the five games.