Shorthanded Bucks Outplay Jazz In Milwaukee

SALT LAKE CITY – The Milwaukee Bucks handed the Utah Jazz their largest loss of the season despite being down several key players.

Neither Giannis Antetokounmpo nor Khris Middleton suited up, but the Bucks made short work of the Jazz 123-97.

Lauri Markkanen and Malik Beasley each scored 18 points to lead the Jazz who opened their three-game road trip with a loss.

Jazz Badly Outrebounded By Shorthanded Bucks

The Jazz lacked energy throughout the night and nowhere was it more apparent than on the glass.

Milwaukee won the rebounding battle 54-29 as no Jazz player secured more than Jarred Vanderbilt’s six.

Bobby Portis grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Milwaukee who also outrebounded the Jazz 15-7 on the offensive glass.

Walker Kessler winning contested rebounds in traffic is probably the least-sexy thing, but maybe the most important thing that he can do.

Jazz really don't have anyone else like that, and he was only a good/not great rebounder at Auburn.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) December 18, 2022

“We have a very small margin for error in that area,” Will Hardy said after the game. “So you can have three players go to the glass and when two guys on a given possession are not locked in and don’t go, we get hurt because the other team does have more size than we do.”

The Jazz are the league’s 13th-best rebounding team overall, but that’s deceptive as they are the fifth-leading offensive rebounding team and the worst defensive rebounding team.

On the flip side, the Bucks are the league’s best defensive-rebounding team, which showed in the lopsided loss.

Jazz Attempt Only Six Free Throws

As badly as the Jazz struggled to rebound against Milwaukee, their free throw shooting was equally poor.

The Jazz attempted only six free throws against the Bucks, tied for the second-fewest in team history. Only twice in the 49-year history of the Jazz have they attempted fewer, and it was by only one attempt in 2008 and 1977.

Milwaukee also held the Jazz to only three makes from the charity stripe, also tied for second worst which has happened twice before, and only behind their 1-5 performance against the Houston Rockets while the team was in New Orleans.

Only the sixth time in Jazz history that they've shot six free throws or fewer.

It's tied for their second worst night as far as attempts go (they've attempted only 5 in two other games.)

And, 3 is tied for the second fewest they've made as a team, second only to 1 make in 1977

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) December 18, 2022

Nickeil Alexander-Walker has played well in place of the injured Collin Sexton, but the Jazz have missed the guard’s determination to get into the paint and draw fouls.

Sexton averages 4.4 free throw attempts per game which is tied with Lauri Markkanen to lead the Jazz.

The Jazz average 22.6 attempts per game with Sexton in the lineup, but have averaged just 16.4 attempts over the last five games that he’s been absent. That number would rank dead last in the NBA over the course of the season by nearly three full attempts.

Jazz Next Broadcast

The Utah Jazz and the Cleveland Cavaliers will tip off at 5 pm MT on Monday. The game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet and can be heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. It can also be streamed on DirecTV Stream and FuboTV.

The game marks the Jazz’s first meeting with Donovan Mitchell since the superstar guard was traded in September.

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