Jazz Have Lost Six Of Eight After Falling To Warriors

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz dropped their sixth game in their last eight outings after falling to the Golden State Warriors 129-118.

The Jazz trailed by 17 in the first half but stormed back to take a 71-70 lead, but ran out of gas over the final 18 minutes of the game.

Lauri Markkanen scored 24 to lead the Jazz while Kelly Olynyk and Jordan Clarkson added 21 each.

Hardy Adjusts Shorthanded Second Unit

With Mike Conley missing his third straight game with a knee sprain, coach Will Hardy has been forced to move Collin Sexton into the lineup in the veteran guard’s absence.

With Sexton no longer leading the second unit, the Jazz guard play suffered dramatically against Golden State, the latest casualty resulting from Conley’s injury.

Talen Horton-Tucker went scoreless on 0-5 shooting and failed to hand out an assist in 12 minutes on the floor.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s stat line easily eclipsed his backcourt cohort scoring eight points, grabbing five rebounds, handing out six assists, and recording three steals, but like Horton-Tucker, he struggled to shoot the ball.

The @utahjazz erased a 17-point @warriors lead, but ran out of gas in their third straight loss. #TakeNote https://t.co/n56f37O19P

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 26, 2022

Alexander-Walker connected on just 3-11 from the field and missed all five three-point attempts in a season-high 30 minutes on the floor.

Hardy opted to play Alexander-Walker over rookie wing Simone Fontecchio as the Jazz have struggled to maintain a consistent offensive attack over the last 13 quarters with Conley off the floor.

Alexander-Walker guard is in a tough spot trying to adapt to his teammates after playing sparingly through the first 20 games of the season, and showed some promise against Golden State.

However, if he hopes to remain in the rotation, he’ll have to knock down shots at a higher rate.

Jazz Face Suns After Loss To Warriors

After falling to the Warriors the Jazz have no time to lick their wounds as they jump back on a plane and head to face the Suns in Phoenix.

The Jazz have lost six of eight, sandwiching a two-game win streak last week with three-game losing streaks including the one their on heading into Phoenix.

Coincidentally, one of the Jazz’s two wins came against the Suns a week ago Friday in a 134-133 thriller.

Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high 38 points on a mega-efficient 15-18 shooting, including several huge baskets late in the fourth quarter.

Lauri Markkanen dropped 38 PTS (20 PTS in 2nd half) in the @utahjazz victory, logging his 4th 30+ point game of the season. #TakeNote

🎷 @MarkkanenLauri: 38 PTS, 6 REB pic.twitter.com/dj04hdGOsV

— NBA (@NBA) November 19, 2022

Devin Booker scored 49 points and nearly recorded a triple-double dishing out 10 assists and grabbing eight rebounds in the loss.

Chris Paul missed the game due to a heel injury and has yet to retake the floor for Phoenix.

The future Hall of Famer has missed eight consecutive games for the Suns who are 5-3 in his absence after a 108-103 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday.

Paul is averaging 9.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 9.4 assists, and 1.7 steals per contest in 10 outings with the Suns this season.

Mike Conley will miss his fourth straight game after straining his knee a week ago against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Suns are 12-6 on the season, and 10-1 at home after knocking off the Pistons and own the best record in the West.

The Jazz meanwhile sit at 12-9 and fell to 6-7 on the road with Friday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors.

There is positive news on the horizon for the Jazz, however. After facing the Suns they return home where they will play eight of their next nine games in Utah.

Jazz Next Broadcast

The Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns will tip off at 7 pm MT on Saturday. The game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet and can be heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. The game will also be streamed on DirecTV Stream and FuboTV.

Follow @benshoops