Jazz Beat Pacers 139-119: 3 Winners, 1 Loser

The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers on a great night for sports in Salt Lake City.

Lauri Markkanen led all scorers with 24 points, while rookie Walker Kessler scored a career-high 20 points as the Utah Jazz cruised to a 139-119 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Center Myles Turner led the Pacers with 18 points in a losing cause. The Jazz led almost the whole way as they took a 9-7 lead with 8:41 left in the first quarter and never looked back.

Utah wins its second game in a row while taking advantage of some home cooking and time to take a breath after a brutal schedule in the first quarter of the season.

Let’s break down the winners and losers in Utah’s blowout win at home.

Winner: Walker Kessler

The No. 22 pick of this year's NBA draft had his best night as a pro. Kessler logged the first double-double of his career with 20 points and 10 rebounds in just 25 minutes of action. Kessler gave the credit to his running mates in his post-game interviews.

“I think my teammates did a great job of finding me," Kessler said. "They threw it up and obviously I’ve got some length. I’m in the sky, not off of being able to jump, but just my height.”

Kessler’s minutes have been up and down throughout the year, but that could change if he continues to have nights like this. At some point, Kessler may be inserted into the starting lineup in place of Jarred Vanderbilt with Kelly Olynyk moving to the four.

Loser: NBA Schedulers

Unfortunately, the NBA schedulers had the Jazz playing during the Pac-12 Championship. Of course, nobody knew that when the schedule came out, but it was predictable with the Utah Utes playing in that game four out of five years. 

It was a great night for sports fans in Salt Lake City as not only did the Jazz win, but the Utes trounced USC, 47-24.

Winner: Collin Sexton

It appears Sexton is earning the trust of his coaches. The fifth-year pro has seen a spike in minutes since Mike Conley has been out with a knee contusion, and the results have been good. 

Sexton has shot at least 50% from the field for six straight games while averaging 30 minutes per contest. The Jazz don’t have a natural point guard on the floor, but Sexton is learning on the job, and Conley’s absence has helped the young point guard grow as a player moving forward.

Winner: Jazz Defense

The Jazz are dead-last in the league in giving up points in the paint, but at least they’re trending in the right direction. Over the last three games, Utah relinquished 50.7 paint points on average, which would put them in the middle of the pack. 

It’s a stat for Jazz fans to keep an eye on moving forward. Utah is third in the league in offensive rating, and if it can find a way to just be an average team on the defensive side, then making the playoffs would be a certainty. Giving Kessler more time on the court would go a long way in making that happen.

---

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live-stream podcasts!