Jazz Fall To Mavericks, Lose Taylor Hendricks To Leg Injury
Oct 28, 2024, 10:28 PM
Taylor Hendricks #0 of the Utah Jazz is wheeled out on a gurney (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz dropped their third straight game to open the 2024-25 season falling to the Dallas Mavericks 110-102.
Collin Sexton led the Jazz with 23 points on an efficient 9-11 shooting from the floor.
Kyrie Irving also had 23 points to lead the Mavericks.
Taylor Hendricks Injury Changes Jazz Season
Midway through the third quarter, the Jazz season took a difficult turn when Taylor Hendricks suffered a gruesome leg injury.
The team reported that the second-year forward has a fractured right fibula and dislocated ankle and that further updates would be provided when appropriate.
Hendricks was running down the floor when it appeared his left leg slipped on the court, and his right leg got caught underneath the weight of his body.
The injury left the Jazz bench stunned, with several players in tears as Hendricks was taken off the floor on a stretcher.
Keyonte George is in full-on tears on the sideline after the Taylor Hendricks injury.
Difficult scene for the @utahjazz bench. Clear Walker Kessler has also been emotional.
Everyone is shaken up. #takenote | @kslsports
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) October 29, 2024
“That’s hard to stomach, he’s put in a lot of hard work,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “He’s a great kid, and so we’re really just trying to focus on him, his health, keeping him up, his spirits up, as he begins the road of his recovery.”
It’s a devastating blow for Hendricks and the Jazz who entered the season with a primary focus on developing their youth.
Hendricks appeared in 40 games as a rookie before being inserted into the starting lineup for his sophomore season.
The injury delays Hendricks’s developmental timeline and will require the Jazz to dedicate more time to getting him up to speed when he returns.
In his absence, Hardy will have to pick a new starting forward to play a larger role for the rest of the season.
Rookie Cody Williams has been the primary backup forward for the Jazz and will likely see increased time in the coming weeks.
“We’re going to do our best as a group to just continue to show [Taylor] and his family some love and support during this.”
For more: https://t.co/UgTgYvVMGs pic.twitter.com/IVpSraPJ5K
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 29, 2024
Second-round draft pick Kyle Filipowski subbed into the game following the injury and recorded two assists, a rebound, and two fouls in six minutes of action.
Third-year forward Johnny Juzang will also be an option for Hardy when he returns from a sprained thumb, as will veteran Svi Mykhailiuk.
The Jazz entered the season lacking depth, and despite Hendricks’s inexperience, he provided 26 minutes of reliable wing play each night.
“He helps with our spacing, obviously he’s a heck of a defender,” Lauri Markkanen said. “He brings us length on the floor, and so we’re going to miss him a lot.”
No without him, the winless roster will be tested even further.
Jazz Primary Shotmakers Are Struggling
The Jazz entered Monday’s game with the worst offensive rating in the NBA.
Markkanen, Keyonte George, and Jordan Clarkson, three of the team’s most prolific three-shot creators have all struggled to shoot the ball this season, and their struggles continued against the Mavericks.
Markkanen is now 17-47 on the season (36 percent) after Monday’s 4-15 showing, George is 13-48 (27 percent) after a 6-18 night in Dallas, and Clarkson is 14-37 (37 percent) after shooting 3-11 against the Mavericks.
Lauri Markkanen’s current 8-32 shooting over the last two outings is the worst two-game span of his career.
There just aren’t a lot of easy looks for anyone in the Jazz offense right now.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) October 29, 2024
While the poor percentages could be chalked up to small sample sizes early in the season, each of the three is struggling to find easy looks.
The Jazz continue to try to develop Markkanen in the high post but the All-Star forward has yet to punish opposing defenses with his new responsibilities.
The seven-footer was 1-10 inside the three-point line against Dallas including 0-4 on two-point shots outside the restricted area.
George missed all five three-point attempts and is now 4-19 from deep this season.
𝘚𝘕𝘌𝘈𝙆𝙀𝙔 🤫🔑#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/APiDCcC6Ss
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 29, 2024
The second-year guard is reliant on using his three-point makes to set up the rest of his offense, but when it doesn’t fall, he can’t generate enough easy looks near the rim to offset his poor outside shooting.
Clarkson’s shooting problems have been less egregious, but with one of the least-experienced second units in the NBA, the Jazz need the former Sixth Man of the Year to carry a bigger offensive load, and when he struggles as he did in Dallas, the issue feels amplified.
The Jazz had the 18th-best offensive rating in the NBA last season, and still ranked 21st after the trade deadline.
So far this season, the dip in offensive rating has been the primary reason they’re 0-3, and until Markkanen, George, or Clarkson start making shots, the losses will continue to pile up.
Utah Jazz Next Broadcast
The Jazz will return home to face the Sacramento Kings at 7:00 p.m. MST on Tuesday. The game will be televised on KJZZ, streamed on Jazz+, and heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone.
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops or on Instagram @BensHoops.
