Jazz Youth Shines In Loss To Hornets
Jan 15, 2025, 10:31 PM | Updated: Jan 16, 2025, 2:42 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – The Charlotte Hornets erased a seven-point Utah Jazz lead en route to a 117-112 victory on Wednesday night.
The Jazz, led by Keyonte George’s 26 points, allowed the Hornets to score 37 points in the fourth quarter in an otherwise well-played game.
Hornets center Mark Williams scored a career-high 31 points, including 15 in the final period.
Game Blog: Jazz Stumble Late In Loss To Hornets
Jazz Youth Continues To Shine Against Hornets
Despite the loss, the Jazz got several quality outings from their first and second-year players against the Hornets.
George returned from a heel injury that caused him to miss the last five games and recorded 26 points, six assists, and four rebounds in 30 minutes.
The sophomore guard shot 9-22 from the floor, including 5-13 from three.
consider this the 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗣 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 👏😈 pic.twitter.com/Gwh1izPZBH
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 16, 2025
George played off the ball next to rookie Isaiah Collier who continued his strong play as a starter.
Collier recorded a career-high 10 assists, and his first double-double in the NBA adding 11 points on 4-8 shooting in 27 minutes on the floor.
Related: Isaiah Collier Logs First Career Double-Double In Jazz Loss
Brice Sensabaugh sparked the Jazz in the first half scoring 14 of his 19 points. The second-year wing added four rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes.
Utah was down by 11 points when Brice Sensabaugh entered the game, but his 12 points flipped the script as the @utahjazz led by seven after one.#TakeNotehttps://t.co/NFVKkagFVi
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 16, 2025
Kyle Filipowski recorded eight points in 23 minutes, including 2-4 shooting from three, and was a team-high +12 during his time on the floor.
“These are a lot of young guys that are all learning together,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said, “and I could not be happier with the trend of our team’s play.”
The Jazz want to prioritize the development of their young players by upping their minutes throughout the season. While the improved lottery odds are a welcome byproduct of these minutes, seeing the team’s realized draft picks begin to capitalize on their potential is critical to jumpstart the rebuild.
“If you look at where we were six weeks ago, two months ago to now, we’re playing way better basketball on both sides of the ball, and that’s all I can ask for,” Hardy finished.
Hornets Are A Cautionary Tale
Though the Hornets won Wedensday’s contest, Jazz fans should view the Charlotte roster as a cautionary tale.
The Hornets have had the type of lottery luck in recent seasons that Jazz fans long for, moving up five spots in 2020 to select Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball with the third overall pick, and moving up two spots in 2023 to select Brandon Miller with the second overall pick.
Both players appear to have bright futures in Charlotte, but despite their strong individual play, the Hornets are once again monitoring the NBA standings in hopes of landing another high lottery pick.
I forgot the Hornets traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on draft night for Miles Bridges.
WOOF
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 16, 2025
These shortcomings are a result of Ball’s difficult injury history and consecutive poor draft picks outside the top three in recent seasons.
Ball has played 210 of a possible 355 games since being drafted in 2020.
Meanwhile, the Hornets used the 12th pick in 2021 to select James Bouknight who is no longer in the NBA, and traded their 2022 lottery pick (Jalen Duren) to the Knicks for a 2023 first-round pick, which wound up as the 27th pick (Nick Smith Jr.).
While Charlotte did pick Mark Williams with an additional first-round pick in 2022, he’s played just 77 of a possible 201 games since being drafted.
Essentially, while lottery luck goes a long way toward adding talent to your roster, which the Hornets have, franchises must also make good decisions with their other less valuable assets.
The Jazz have yet to see the ping pong balls bounce their way in the lottery, but they’ve drafted well elsewhere, and it will expedite the rebuilding process in the coming seasons.
Utah Jazz Next Broadcast
The Jazz will travel to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday 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.
