Jazz 0-3 To Open Road Trip After 76ers Survive Late Rally
Mar 9, 2025, 8:43 PM | Updated: Mar 10, 2025, 11:44 am
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz fell to 0-3 on their current road trip after falling to the Philadelphia 76ers 126-122.
The Jazz trailed by as much as 22 in the second half, but rallied back to trim the deficit to two in the finals seconds of the game.
However, the team couldn’t get over the hump, losing their fifth straight game.
Keyonte George and Kyle Filipowski each had 25 points to pace the Jazz.
Second Unit Struggles In Loss To Philadelphia
The Jazz opened the game by building a 32-16 lead, but saw their advantage quickly wash away when coach Will Hardy turned to the second unit.
By the end of the first quarter, the Jazz’s 16-point lead had been trimmed to five, and all five bench players posted a negative plus-minus.
That was the theme of the game as every Jazz started finished the game with a positive plus-minus, led by Isaiah Collier’s +23, while every bench player finished in the negative.
The Jazz bench was outscored 68-41, as the reserve group shot just 12-35 from the floor.
Flip with back-to-back threes to bring us within two! 🔥👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/0TkzGOGF18
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 10, 2025
Without Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, or Walker Kessler in the lineup, the Jazz second-unit had to rely heavily on their deep bench, including 35 combined minutes from Svi Mykhailiuk and Micah Potter, but he 76ers bench isn’t much better.
Philadelphia was playing without Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, Eric Gordon, and Kyle Lowry, and had to turn to little-used Lonnie Walker IV, Alex Reese, and Jeff Dowtin.
“Tonight was a tricky night, being really short-handed, but I do think that there are still signs of the young players improving,” Hardy said.
George earned 10 trips to the free-throw line, marking his sixth time this season he’s recorded double-digits attempts. As a rookie, the guard reached double-digit attempts from the free-throw line only twice.
Cody Williams continued his show off his improved shooting percentages, albeit in a small sample size. The rookie scored seven points on 2-4 shooting including 1-2 from the three-point line.
Filipowski was 4-9 from the three-point line while Brice Sensabaugh was 4-7.
“All of them want to continue to grow in their careers, and everybody always says they want more responsibility, and they want more of this and more of that but you don’t really know what comes with that until you’ve felt it,” Hardy said. “So these moments are big for their growth.”
Jazz Goes Winless In Softest Stretch Of Schedule
Withing the team’s five-game losing streak, the Jazz have dropped games against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Washington Wizards, the Toronto Raptors, and now the 76ers, or, four of the six worst teams in the NBA (not counting themselves).
Those teams made up the softest stretch of schedule the Jazz had remaining to close the regular season, and now face a significantly more difficult caliber of games to close the year.
With 18 games left to play, 12 come against teams with records above .500 who are jockeying for playoff positioning.
The @utahjazz own the second-worst record in the NBA and have the third-toughest schedule remaining behind only the Suns and the Kings.
Going to be a touch schedule from here on out.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) March 10, 2025
Even matchups against the sub .500 Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, and the Portland Trail Blazers feature teams fighting to qualify for the Play-In Tournament.
Only games against the Raptors, Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets over the final 35 days of the regular season will come against teams who are more interested in improving their draft positioning than they are winning games.
With their loss in Philadelphia,Utah owns the second-worst record in the NBA at 15-49, a nd own the third-toughest remaining schedule in the in the league.
Next Utah Broadcast
The Jazz will travel to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday at 5:30 p.m. MST. 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, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
