Utah Jazz fall to 0-5 on the season as Victor Wembanyama has historic game

The Utah Jazz are still the only remaining team in the NBA that has not won a single game in the 2024-25 season after falling 106-88 to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night at the Delta Center.

The Jazz are now 0-5 on the season as the gear up for their first major road trip of the year, but as they ready for the road, the one thing that continues to hamper their ability to get into some kind of rhythm is the constant string of injuries.

In turn, those injuries are causing a domino effect of other problems.

Injuries

The Jazz were obviously rocked by the season-ending injury to Taylor Hendricks on Monday night in Dallas. Then, their best player, Lauri Markkanen, left Tuesday’s home game with lower back spasms, which kept him out of Thursday’s game and could keep him out more.

Additionally, during Thursday’s loss to the Spurs, Keyonte George left the game for a good chunk after rolling his ankle, though he eventually returned. Time will tell if that is going to be an issue going forward.

Also, Jordan Clarkson left the game and did not return because of heel pain that’s been bothering him for a few days, and as if that wasn’t already enough, Collin Sexton has been playing with an injured finger.

Every single one of the players mentioned above has a pretty prominent role in the Jazz’s rotation, which brings me to my next point.

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New lineups = new issues

Hendricks began the season in the starting lineup and was going to be tasked with guarding the other team’s best player on most nights.

He also figured to be one of the Jazz’s young players that was poised for a big leap this season and was showing promise in the first couple of games. His absence leaves a huge hole for the team to fill.

It’s one thing to shift one player in a rotation, but when multiple starters and rotational players are going out, that means a lot more shifting has to happen, and that’s exactly where the Jazz are right now.

Over the last couple of games, the Jazz have been forced to play lineups and combinations of players that just weren’t playing together throughout training camp and the preseason.

Chemistry is incredibly important, especially with a group that is comprised of so many young players. Knowing one another’s tendencies and where each player likes the ball, how fast they run, when they’re likely to cut and all the other movements that basketball players make is not going to be learned over night.

It also should be noted that taking away the best player on the team has its own domino effect. Who steps up? Who is going to get more touches? Who needs to be more aggressive offensively? Who is going to calm the team down as the leader in chaotic moments?

These are all questions that are being answered on the fly right now.

This is all also creating some on-court issues that are just going to take some time to iron out. Spacing is a problem, some guys are playing multiple positions and are figuring out where they’re supposed to be from one lineup to the next, and as was evidenced in the Jazz’s loss to the Spurs, turnovers are a predictable byproduct of a lack of chemistry.

Wemby’s 5x5

On Wednesday night in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Victor Wembanyama had one of his worst NBA games, so it was a pretty safe bet that he was going to want to bounce back in a big way on Thursday.

Well, he bounced back and then some, becoming just the third player in NBA history to record a second 5x5 game in his career. If you’re unfamiliar, a 5x5 is a game in which a player tallies at least ‘5′ in five different stat columns.

Wembanyama’s performance against the Jazz was just the 23rd time in NBA history in which a player has recorded a 5x5, and it was the second of his career.

He finished the night with 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and five steals. The other two players who have recorded multiple 5x5 games are Hakeem Olajuwon (6) and Andrei Kirilenko (3).