Top Plays In February From Utah Jazz Rookies
Mar 1, 2024, 1:37 PM | Updated: 2:12 pm
Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks (0) drives to the basket during a game against the San Antonio Spurs at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Marielle Scott, Deseret News)
(Photo courtesy of Marielle Scott, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – The month of February saw the Utah Jazz sell at the trade deadline and then turn to the rookies following the All-Star Weekend.
Since Utah has made its plans for the rest of the season very clear, let’s lean into the youth movement by looking back at the best plays of February from the Utah Jazz rookies.
Jazz Turn To Rookies Post All-Star
The month of February wasn’t pretty for the Jazz.
After selling three rotation players at the deadline, Utah closed out the month with six losses in seven games.
On February 12, Utah made Keyonte George the full-time starting point guard.
Ten days later on February 22, the Jazz inserted Taylor Hendricks into the starting lineup and gave Brice Sensabaugh real rotation minutes off of the bench.
Keyonte, Taylor, and Brice, 𝙾𝙷 𝙼𝚈 💟
The rookies combined for 𝟯𝟱 including 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 buzzer beater and more ⤵️#PlayerHighlights | @zionsbank pic.twitter.com/wWR7SZgAt0
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 23, 2024
The young guys definitely had their fair share of struggles in their increased roles but they also showed some promising flashes.
Rookie Highlights In February
Even when the shot isn’t falling, the passing will always be there for Keyonte George.
Against the Bucks on February 4, George posted his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
He only had two assists in that game but one of them was an absolute dime to Lauri Markkanen above the rim.
long lob for Lau 🫡#TakeNote | @markkanenlauri pic.twitter.com/LMgfX0knG4
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 5, 2024
The game against Milwaukee was a great one for the rook. His 19 points came on 7/13 shooting with five made threes.
Five makes from deep was George’s career-high until later in the month.
In the fourth quarter, he showed that he could do some work above the rim too.
screaming! crying! the rook is dunking! https://t.co/J5sjFPn3ke pic.twitter.com/D5Mvcp2ULx
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 5, 2024
The Keyonte George to Lauri Markkanen alley-oop never gets old.
Against the OKC Thunder, the rookie found the all-star with a lob pass once again.
Markkanen caught it with his right and threw it down in one motion.
starting with the rook
ending with the 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙽𝙸𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚁 👀 pic.twitter.com/sMp8OW99S0— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 7, 2024
Later in the game against the Thunder, George showed off his clutch gene.
The Jazz trailed by one with four minutes left in the final quarter.
With the shot clock counting down, the rookie gave his defender a jab dribble and pulled it back for a three.
s/o that right foot for keeping the ball in play for a key three 🔑#TakeNote | @keyonte1george pic.twitter.com/5hTbvZvpc0
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 7, 2024
Taylor Hendricks started putting together some highlights against the Phoenix Suns on February 8.
Hendricks sent a shot from Kevin Durant off of the glass which led to a transition bucket for George.
. @tayxhendricks 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗞 🚨@keyonte1george 𝗕𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧 🚨 pic.twitter.com/1PoCzoREJq
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 9, 2024
Hendricks didnt have the best game in Phoenix but he was able to knock down a three and grab eight rebounds.
George posted 11 points and six assists. He also threw down a one-hand slam in the second quarter.
another key angle 📐 https://t.co/PCv19JGb41 pic.twitter.com/kTgbfAkMvk
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 9, 2024
The next two games didnt see much in terms of rookie highlights.
The Jazz fell to the Warriors by 22 and then turned around and lost to the Lakers by 16.
Against LA, George and Hendricks both played decent games. George had 13 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and two steals. Hendricks recorded 9 points and five rebounds.
Love Story (Taylor’s Version) 💖#TakeNote | @tayxhendricks pic.twitter.com/YyKPZbifk3
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 15, 2024
After a couple of slow games for the Rooks, the script completely flipped against Golden State before the All-Star break.
Keyonte George had his best game of the season as he poured in 33 points and tied a rookie record with nine made threes.
a career-night the rook will never forget and right before his first all-star weekend too 🥹#PlayerHighlights | @zionsbank pic.twitter.com/yopTCv4nG9
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 16, 2024
Utah returned from the break with a home game against the Charlotte Hornets.
It was in this game when Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh saw an increase in playing time.
Sensabaugh and Jordan Clarkson combined for this nice transition play in the first half.
RELATED: Brice Sensabaugh, Jordan Clarkson Connect For Highlight Play In Transition
Brice steal❗
Brice bucket❗❗𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗔𝗕𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗛❗❗❗ pic.twitter.com/6THLCk3pOO
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 23, 2024
The Jazz’s rookie trio combined for 35 points against the Hornets.
George put up 16 points and five assists. Hendricks had 12 points and nine rebounds. Sensabaugh recorded 7 points and a steal.
Sensabaugh had the highlight of the game for the Jazz and he nailed a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter.
You can’t stop the beat 🕺
but you can beat the buzzer 😏 https://t.co/Kn0TcbQhBO pic.twitter.com/RpLAhplTSi
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 23, 2024
In the next game against the Spurs, Hendricks showed off his hops with a two-hand flush off a pass from Collin Sexton.
He finished with 9 points, three rebounds, and a block against San Antonio.
💟 purple craze 💟#TakeNote | @tayxhendricks pic.twitter.com/sKDgYd9ee5
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 26, 2024
The next game in Atlanta wasn’t pretty but that didnt stop the rookies from making some noise.
After a slow start, George found Hendricks cutting in for a tough push shot from the left block.
rookie/rookie 🪄 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 🪄 pic.twitter.com/PFKVLuQfYM
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 28, 2024
Sensabaugh got in on the fun at the end of the first quarter with a three off of a jab step.
The three closed the Hawks’s lead down to five after the Jazz trailed by as much as 12 in the first.
brice
brice
𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 pic.twitter.com/piCPpxyfDW— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 28, 2024
Shoutout to the leap year for giving us an extra day and an extra game of Jazz basketball in February.
Because it was a great one for Keyonte George.
that boy nice 😮💨#TakeNote | @keyonte1george pic.twitter.com/C2G5Iwvznf
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 1, 2024
In an 8-point loss to the Orlando Magic, George posted a team-high 19 points with 9 assists.
In the third quarter, Collin Sexton set up George for a nasty alley-oop dunk.
RELATED: Jazz Rookie Keyonte George Throws Down Transition Alley-Oop Dunk
🔒 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚔’𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚘𝚋𝚜 🔒 pic.twitter.com/XEuMKL75xG
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 1, 2024
Hendricks also played a solid game.
He posted 10 points and 7 rebounds and played respectable defense on All-Star Paolo Banchero and forward Franz Wagner.
taylor!
taylor!
taylor!#Pura3Pointer | @pura pic.twitter.com/MeO0BTtiBz— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 1, 2024
Are you on Threads yet? Let’s connect, give us a follow @kslsports.
Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.
