Jazz Fall to the Celtics in SLC, 123-107: 3 Key Takeaways
The Utah Jazz tasted defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics 123-107 on a cold, chilly night in Salt Lake City. This loss should come as no surprise, as the Celtics are considered by many to be the clear-cut favorite to win an NBA Title. I think the Nuggets will repeat as Champions, but ignoring the C's body of work is difficult.
The Celtics were led by All-Star and MVP candidate Jason Tatum, who scored 38 points and played an all-around floor game. Even without All-Star mate Jalen Brown, Tatum received more than adequate assistance from his teammates in completing the low-stress victory at the Delta Center.
The Jazz were again led by rookie sensation Keyonte George, who poured in 26 points while dishing out 6 assists. His ever-steady backcourt mate Colin Sexton chipped in with 20 points, grabbed seven boards, and dropped five assists.
Now, let's dive into some takeaways after the contest.
Play-off hopes are slim
After last night's loss, the Jazz are sporting a team record of 28-37, now rank 12th of 15 teams in the Western Conference, and have 17 games remaining in the regular season. Clearly, on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, the Jazz would need to make up 6.5 games to catch the Golden State Warriors to slide into the play-in style format. This feat will likely not happen and Jazz Nation should just enjoy the rest of this season and look forward to next year.
Jazz Management should not tank
I am a huge fan and advocate of competing to win because organized tanking, losing, and load management produce nothing positive. The Jazz have seemingly implemented no desire to compete for the past two seasons.
In particular, this season when, just several short months ago and prior to the All-Star break, I had penciled the Jazz in as at least a play-in team. After Coach Hardy finally utilized Jordan Clarkson in his proper role as 6th Man, it seemed the organization wanted to shoot for the sky. Remember, this was a close-knit team, and no moves should have been made before the trade deadline.
All of a sudden, several Jazz players were traded, and the morale of this team dropped immensely. And since the trade, the Jazz have not been the team we witnessed earlier in the season.
Have a clear picture next season
Hopefully, the Jazz will make a season-long effort next year to make the playoffs and move toward winning a championship. It probably sounds easier said than done, but how about trying?
This season, the team decided to start developing its young crop of talent after the All-Star break when they were in the thick of the playoffs. If you are going to develop young talent, it should completed in increments during appropriate game time. Trust your upper-tier players to bring the youngsters along while trying to maintain a winning culture.
The Jazz will welcome the Atlanta Hawks and former head coach Quin Snyder at the Delta Center on Friday night at 7:30 PM.
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