Once again the Utah Jazz didn’t have Lauri Markkanen or Kelly Olynyk available to play, but this time they were able to come away with a win, holding on to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-125.
The Wolves shot 43.9% from deep, Anthony Edwards took over in the second half and Minnesota took 17 more shots than the Jazz did on the whole, but the Jazz were smart with how they played, they weren’t selfish and they got big contributions from nearly everyone on the court.
The Jazz had seven players in double figures (Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, Ochai Agbaji, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mike Conley, Collin Sexton), but it was the rookies who shined the brightest in this one.
Playing the game in front of them
Rudy Gobert played just under five minutes before having to go back to the locker room because of a groin strain. He was eventually ruled out for the rest of the game. Since Karl-Anthony Towns is also sidelined with a calf strain, it left Minnesota really lacking in size and an ability to protect the rim.
The Jazz totally used that to their advantage and attacked early and often, putting Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels in foul trouble which thinned out the Timberwolves rotation even more. Drive-and-kicks and just plain recognition of mismatches from everyone on the roster really allowed the Jazz to stick with the Wolves while they were shooting the lights out.
Even when Edwards was going on a second-half tear, scoring 25 of his game-high 29 points in the third and fourth quarters, the Jazz maintained their length advantage and continued to pressure the rim, which allowed them to get into the bonus early in the third and fourth quarters. The Jazz benefited greatly from this, going 23-of-28 from the free-throw line, compared to the Timberwolves getting just 18 free-throw attempts.
Nobody wants players to be injured, but there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of a weak spot like the Jazz did when Gobert wasn’t able to play. And it was just smart play for the Jazz to continue to attack and use physicality to gain an upper hand.
Walker Kessler’s continued excellence
The rookie center enjoyed being able to beat the team that traded him away as a complementary piece in Gobert deal and he did it by looking like vintage Gobert against the Timberwolves.
He finished the game with 20 points and a career-best 21 rebounds to go with four assists and two blocks.
“Walker was sensational and he did so many good things for us,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said after the game. “Something that will go unnoticed is Minnesota blitzed or had their big up in pick-and-roll for a majority of the game. Walker did a fantastic job of getting into the pocket and making great decisions for us.”
That’s what stands out the most — Kessler’s decision-making.
The nine offensive rebounds, and the putbacks on misses, and his fight to really crash the boards as well as his incredible ability to finish at the rim from multiple angles are all really impressive, but his growth in such a short time on reading the game and making smart decisions is what really impresses.
Kessler set screens off broken plays, set strong screens within set actions, dribbled to collapse the defense, kicked out to open shooters, drove to the rim when there was a size-advantage, scared off opposing scorers with his presence around the rim and just made a difference on both ends of the floor.
Flowers for Ochai Agbaji
It’s starting to feel like Hardy picked the perfect time to start finding minutes for Agbaji. Things are not easy for a rookie who is coming off a national championship season and was a prominent player for his previous team, who then has to bounce between the NBA and G League, not knowing when his opportunities are going to come.
Also, there’s information and advice and direction coming from absolutely everywhere. There’s the coaching staff, the training staff, development coaches, everyone from two separate teams and even the front office. But Agbaji has done his best to absorb all of that information and it’s really paying off.
A few weeks ago I was watching the Jazz warm up before a game and saw Danny Ainge talking with Agbaji, giving him pointers on how to come off screens and shoot 3s while using his athleticism to his advantage in those situations. Ainge said that he just wants Agbaji succeed and use all the tools he already has to be able to succeed.
First of all, Ainge would not be putting in his two cents if the Jazz weren’t invested in the future of Agbaji, and secondly it’s incredible advice. Agbaji’s athleticism is one of his greatest strengths and if he uses his power and speed to break down the defense, it’s only going to benefit the team.
All of that advice and direction is really paying off and we saw Agbaji move off the dribble, make really athletic plays and shoot with confidence against Minnesota en route to a 17-point performance off the bench.