The Utah Jazz lost their third away game in a few days. Lauri Markkanen continued his great performances, but the Utah team’s momentum is freezing after a strong early season.
11:04•Updated 11:17
In the NBA basketball league, the Utah Jazz, who were in a wild mood in the early season, have looked like a mid-level NBA team in recent weeks. On Saturday morning Finnish time, the team lost bitterly to Sacramento 125–126.
Utah’s Finnish star Lauri Markkanen scored 36 points and was again the best scorer of the match. The Finn had an ice-cold long-range shooting day, as Markkanen hit only one of his seven three-point shots.
In two-point throws, the situation was completely opposite. Markkanen aggressively attacked the basket throughout the match. The Finn sank more than 80 percent of his two-point attempts. The native of Jyväskylä also hit one of the most amazing dunks of his career on Sacramento’s star player Domantas Sabonis over.
The victory slipped away in the last moments
The decisive moments of the match were two-sided for the Finns, when Utah, led by Markkanen, was the first to fight for victory. The Finn hit his only 3-pointer just over a minute before the end of the match, after which he tapped a two-pointer into the basket.
Sacramento got a shot from their last attack when Markkanen couldn’t get hold of the rebound. Kevin Huerter gave Sacramento the lead with his triple. After the overtime, the ball was passed to Markkanen, but the Finn’s attempt at a winning shot did not hit the basket.
– The last throw is always remembered, but we should have gotten that rebound, especially when I had two hands on the ball, Markkanen commented after the match.
Utah has played 38 games this season. In their first 19 games, Utah won twelve and lost seven. The balance of the 19 matches after this is seven wins and twelve losses.
At the same time that one of the best offenses in the entire series is no longer the fireworks it was in the preseason, opponents have punished Utah’s defense.
Utah’s “defensive rating” is the fifth weakest in the series throughout the season. The statistic calculates how many points a team allows on average per 100 possessions. Taking the last 10 games, the team’s reading is the eighth weakest in the series. The best reading in the series from that time is Memphis’ 105.2, while Utah’s reading is 116.4.
Utah narrowly lost three times in a row to teams from their own conference. Utah is now 10th in its conference.
– This away tour could have produced three victories if a few things had gone differently. It’s from deep, but part of this series, Markkanen said.