John Collins Errant Pass Sinks Jazz Against Warriors
Feb 15, 2024, 10:18 PM | Updated: Feb 16, 2024, 10:40 am
SALT LAKE CITY – One play does not a loss make, but John Collins wild pass in the final seconds of the game cost the Jazz dearly against the Golden State Warriors.
With the Jazz trailing 138-137, Collins corralled an offensive rebound with six seconds left to play but launched the ball into the fourth row as he attempted to kick the ball out to Keyonte George.
The Warriors sunk two free throws on the other end and escaped with a 140-137 victory.
This is an insane way for an otherwise amazing game to end.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 16, 2024
John Collins Wild Pass Ends Comeback Hopes
After an otherwise strong 18 point, 13 rebound outing from Collins, his high-adrenaline pass ultimately ended the Jazz’s hopes of fully erasing the Warriors 19 point second-half lead.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Warriors ran out of gas in Salt Lake City and barely survived the Jazz’s furious late rally.
“[I’m] proud of the team for hanging in and battling, and the comeback that we made at the end,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “Obviously coming up short doesn’t feel good.”
Collin: 35p | 9a | 3r | 1s | 1b
Keyonte: 33p | 6a | 2r | 3s | 9 3PM
Lauri: 20p | 14r | 3a | 4 3PM
John: 18p | 13r | 2a | 1s | 1b
Jordan: 13p | 9a | 2r#TakeNote | @LVT_USA pic.twitter.com/R4VlkHI9gT— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 16, 2024
The Jazz had a chance to take the lead in the waning seconds but Lauri Markkanen missed a contested corner three.
Collins then collected the offensive rebound, but aggressively fired the ball well over George’s head.
“When John got that offensive rebound and pivoted out, I thought the ball was going out to Collin [Sexton] at the top of the key,” Hardy said.
“That’s not the way that it worked out so I’ll get to spend the next five days thinking about if there was a half-second there that I could have called timeout.”
Sexton could have sent the game to overtime on the final play, but missed an uncontested three at the buzzer.
The loss is the Jazz’s fourth straight since the trade deadline and pushes them 2.5 games back of the Warriors for the 10th and final Play-In Tournament seed in the West.
The team now heads off to the All-Star break for a much-needed vacation.
Keyonte George Offers Taste Of Future
While the game will be remembered for its wild finish, the first three quarters offered a glimpse at the Jazz’s future.
Keyonte George matched an NBA rookie record by sinking nine threes en route to a career-high 33 points.
“Tonight was probably his sort of coming out party in terms of being an off-the-dribble three-point shooter,” Hardy said.
George connected on 9-16 from downtown and abused the Warriors whenever they failed to find him on the perimeter.
An @NBA record and some praise from @spidadmitchell for @utahjazz rookie @keyonte1george. 🔥🏀#TakeNote #NBA https://t.co/kzT8W8qdHC
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 16, 2024
“I think we saw tonight what I’ve been seeing, and we’ve been seeing behind closed doors in terms of his ability to get those shots off in a variety of ways,” Hardy added.
The rookie added six assists and three steals, but appeared to run out of gas in the fourth quarter scoring just one point and missing all five of his field goal attempts.
Regardless, George has emerged as a central building block on the Jazz roster, and continues to prove he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
Utah Jazz Next Game
The Jazz will face the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday after the All-Star break at 7 pm MST in Salt Lake City. The game will be televised on KJZZ, streamed on Jazz+, and can be 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.
