Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 131-119 win over the Los Angeles Lakers from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. A brilliant answer from the Jazz’s core
Monday’s big loss against the Lakers in the spotlight was disappointing, to be sure — for players, for coaches, for fans. The worst part was the level of competitiveness the Jazz brought to the game. It simply looked like they didn’t show up.
The Jazz showed up for this one, and then some. Quite simply, plays they wouldn’t have considered making on Monday, they went for and achieved on Wednesday. Take this block by Walker Kessler, where he reacts so quickly to the threat at the rim to get the ball before Jarred Vanderbilt can get it to the backboard:
That’s a wow moment to me.
The statlines from were sensational: Lauri Markkanen scored 32 points on 11-18 shooting, adding three steals. Kessler was perfect from the field, 8-8 for 16 points, plus added eight rebounds and six steals. Keyonte George had 20 points and ten assists, Isaiah Collier nearly had a triple-double with 10 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.
That it was the team’s future core playing well is meaningful, too. Look, the Jazz winning games because Jordan Clarkson flames on or Svi Mykhailiuk is making shots that game probably hurt the franchise in the long run. Wins in which the members of this team who will be part of the next good Jazz team show real growth? That’s real progress that can push the franchise forward.
“It is good to be in the game, and be able to go watch back the game and see how this thing could look,” George said. “If we stay level headed, continue to work, continue to come together as a group, special things can happen for sure.”
2. Jazz go zone
I’m a sucker for zone defenses. The going philosophy in the NBA for a long time was that teams could simply outshoot them. Sometimes that’s true.
But on a night like tonight? Frankly, I will take standstill, above the break 3-point shots from the likes of LeBron James and Luka Doncic over the havoc they create upon entering the paint. Allowing those shots, either by switching everything (as the Jazz did most of the rest of the night) or by zone simply makes sense.
The Jazz’s zone is even more pushy towards those above-the-break threes than normal zones, though. Look at the two guys at the top of this zone: whoever currently isn’t guarding the ball is digging way in towards the free-throw line to prevent the pass into the middle.
In the end, Markkanen’s length seems to surprise James and Doncic, and the Jazz get the steal and head the other way.
For the Jazz, the other nice thing about the zone compared to just switching is that it keeps Walker Kessler near the rim rather than near the perimeter. That allows him to do things like get six blocks and allow the Lakers only nine makes at the rim all night.
I asked Kessler after the game if he had played much zone before coming to Utah. He had, quite a bit of experience, he said. “It’s different in the NBA, though, because of defensive three seconds.”
“In college and high school, I was camping. With a tent, a campfire, making s’mores, challenging anyone to come in the paint,” he quipped.
It’s not quite so easy now, but can still be a really effective option for the Jazz depending on their opponent — especially given how poor their man-to-man defense has been for stretches of this season.
3. Howard Eisley visits
Before the game, we had the chance to talk with former Jazz point guard Howard Eisley. Best known for his stretch as John Stockton’s backup from 1995 to 2000, Eisley ended up with a 12-year career in the NBA. He even got a sixth man of the year vote in the lockout year.
But it wasn’t always clear it was going to work out that way. Before the Jazz picked him up, he was actually playing in the minor leagues, in the Continental Basketball Association. Jerry Sloan and the Jazz picked him up and trusted him very quickly for a player with that resume. Why?
“I think I fit the culture at the time. I think I was able to come in and do a job. I wasn’t demanding of anything, came in with the mindset that I had to work very hard,” Eisley said. “Maybe I played, maybe I didn’t, but just coming in and really fitting into what they are, what they were about at the time.”
The efforts led to him being a major part of an NBA Finals run, even playing over 18 minutes per game in 1998. He played best in the Jazz’s Western Conference Finals sweep over the Lakers that year, before struggling with the shot in the Finals.
That being said, he deserved one more basket. In Game 6, Eisley shot and made a three well before the 24-second shot clock buzzer, but it was waved off by referee Dick Bavetta. The Jazz would go on to lose that game by just one point on perhaps the most famous basketball shot of all time.
“I just talked to (then-assistant coach) Gordie (Chiesa) about this. One of the things as a point guard that was always emphasized: you have to know the clock. So in my mind, it was no doubt that I got the shot off, because it’s been ingrained in me to always know what the clock was. Obviously, you know, I wish we could have — like now — instant replay, but we didn’t, and, you know, a mistake was made," Eisley said.
It was.
Eisley spent from 2010-2024 coaching as an assistant, with the Clippers, Wizards, and Knicks, before finally moving to Juwan Howard’s staff at Michigan. Howard was let go before this season, though, and Eisley currently isn’t coaching.
“I love coaching, I love working with players. I sort of feel like it’s a responsibility to give back to the generation that follows you,” Eisley said.
I’m curious where he ends up next.
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