Jazz Fall To Pelicans At Midway Point In Season
Jan 20, 2025, 10:04 PM | Updated: Jan 21, 2025, 9:53 am
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz blew a 25-point lead as they fell to the New Orleans Pelicans 123-119 in overtime.
The Jazz led by as many as 24 in the second half, but CJ McCollum’s 45 points, 31 of which came after halftime were too much for the Jazz to overcome.
Keyonte George led the Jazz with 23 points, while seven different Jazz players scored in double-digits.
Game Blog: Jazz Fizzle In Second Half Against Pelicans
Collier, Filipowski Post Double-Doubles For Jazz Against Pelicans
The Jazz saw two separate franchise firsts against the Pelicans as Isaiah Collier became the first rookie in team history to record double-digit assists in three straight games.
The guard also combined with Kyle Filipowski to become the first teammates in franchise history to record double-doubles in the same game as rookies.
Collier scored 20 points and dished out 11 assists, and has now totaled 32 assists in his last three outings.
Isaiah Collier is the first @utahjazz rookie to record double-digit assists in three straight games. #takenote | @kslsports
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 21, 2025
“Isaiah is somebody that I have a lot of trust in, and that’s because he’s earned it,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “His decision-making on the whole has been very good.”
Collier dominated the first half scoring 15 points on 5-9 shooting, but scored just five points in the second half and overtime while converting just 2-11 from the floor.
Filipowski scored 10 points while recording a career-high 17 rebounds in 38 minutes on the floor.
The Jazz were significantly shorthanded with Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, Taylor Hendricks, Johnny Juzang, and Micah Potter all missing the game, but the team’s young players stepped up to push the game to overtime.
Jazz At The Midway Point
With Monday’s loss, the Jazz now own a 10-31 record at the midway point of the season.
Through 41 games, the team’s .243 winning percentage is its lowest since the team moved to Utah in 1979, and the second-worst in franchise history.
Despite hitting a new low point, Monday’s game was a representation of the Jazz reaching two goals at the halfway point of the year.
First, the Jazz want to add another high lottery pick to their roster, and with 41 games left in the season, are tied with the Toronto Raptors for the second-fewest wins in the NBA.
The Jazz own the worst record in the West, and after their two-game series, sit two wins back of the Pelicans in the standings.
If the draft lottery were held today, the Jazz would own a 52.1 percent chance of owning a top-four selection.
After back-to-back losses, the @utahjazz own the worst record in the West, are tied with the @raptors for the second-fewest wins in the league, and have the toughest remaining schedule over the final 41 games.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 21, 2025
Second, as they proved they could hold their own against New Orleans, the Jazz youngsters have improved dramatically since the beginning of the season.
Collier is making a convincing argument to start at point guard for the rest of the season, regardless of who remains on the roster after the trade deadline.
Walker Kessler has established himself as one of the premier rim protectors in the NBA and appears ready to man the center position for the Jazz for the foreseeable future.
Key➕Walk➕one pic.twitter.com/vLKAEsKhth
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 21, 2025
Keyonte George has seen his scoring efficiency climb dramatically since a slow start to the season and has now scored at least 23 points in three straight outings.
Brice Sensabaugh has scored in double-digits in six straight games and has proven to be capable of huge scoring outputs off the bench.
Filipowski has yet to establish a consistent role, but his versatile production off the bench has been an unexpected bright spot from the second-rounder.
Outside of Cody Williams’s slow start to his rookie season, and Taylor Hendricks’s broken leg, the Jazz’s youth movement has yielded positive results and is providing the team with the semblance of a foundation on which to build.
“We’re a young group that’s on the rise, and that’s what I told the team,” Hardy said. “That’s how I want them to carry themselves because we have a bright future ahead of us.”
Utah Jazz Next Broadcast
The Jazz will travel to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at 6 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.
