Jazz's Talen Horton-Tucker Shows Flashes Amid 95-111 Loss vs. Nuggets

The Utah Jazz guard had a pleasant outing in one of the final games of the regular season.

Apr 9, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Talen Horton-Tucker (5) drives the ball / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets finally got the best of the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night in a 111-95 win after losing their previous six in Salt Lake City. It effectively scales the Jazz down to 13-straight losses and a 29-50 record on the year.

However, despite the end result, the Jazz got a surprising showing from Talen Horton-Tucker, who posted 24 points in his 32 minutes off the bench. This comes in as his third-best point total of the season, trailing behind his 25 against the Phoenix Suns and 27 against the Brooklyn Nets.

Considering the number of guys sitting on the sidelines for this contest, it allowed Horton-Tucker to get a much more substantial opportunity than he's seen earlier this season. He spent nearly half of the season in Utah logging DNPs, but proved as an effective option on the offensive side of the ball when given a green light.

It comes at an ideal time for Horton-Tucker to put together a robust night, as he'll be set to hit unrestricted free agency after the Jazz close out the regular season in a week's time. With his future in Utah a bit uncertain, some opposing GMs may be scouting the 2019 second-round pick around this point of the year for a shot to play on their respective teams in 2024-25.

Omer Yurtseven was also a pleasant surprise in Utah's lineup on Tuesday, as he showed up for 20 points and 11 assists as a starter. Walker Kessler was out of action with a nasal fracture, opening a route for Yurtseven to produce some of his best numbers of the year.

The @utahjazz trimmed the @nuggets lead to as few as three, but now trail 87-80 heading into the fourth.

Omer Yurtseven has 18 while Talen Horton-Tucker has 24 points for the Jazz. #takeNote pic.twitter.com/CMoiAiVUXw

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 10, 2024

However, the Nuggets still put together a strong performance on their end, headlined by Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic posting 28 points each. In Denver's pursuit of securing the one-seed in a contested Western Conference, it was hard to see them letting this game slip through their fingers.

Jazz fans will have to bear three more games of the tank across the rest of this season, having one last go-around in the Delta Center on tap for their next contest. On Thursday, Utah will have the chance to tear down their extensive losing stretch against the Houston Rockets in Salt Lake City at 7 PM MT.

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