Ace Bailey earns first career start in Jazz’s loss to Timberwolves

When Ace Bailey learned that he would be starting for the Utah Jazz on Monday night, he knew he needed to lean on his teammates. They didn’t have to approach the rookie with sage advice. Instead, Bailey went straight to Keyonte George and asked for brutal honesty.

“I really didn’t give him any advice, he came up to me‚" George said. “He was just making sure, like, ‘Yo, if you see me [expletive] up, talk to me.’ He takes ownership of everything he does.”

The conversation continued into the locker room and on the medical table while they were getting taped up before the game started.

“Plays, sets, all of it. I didn’t want to be wrong with nothing since it was my first start,” Bailey said. “I asked a lot of questions, as a rookie should. Coming into the game, not knowing a lot, against a team that’s on the second night of a back-to-back. So, was just trying to learn a lot.”

In the end, the game didn’t go exactly as the Jazz would have wanted. The Minnesota Timberwolves left the Delta Center with a 120-113 win. But the Jazz were pleased with the way they played, especially compared to how things went on Friday night.

They were in Minneapolis before the weekend and were completely embarrassed by the Timberwolves in 40-point blowout. And while the Wolves had a game in Sacramento to wipe the slate clean, the Jazz were left to stew, knowing they’d see the same opponent in their next game.

This time, instead of the game being decided in the first six minutes of play, the Jazz came out ready to fight. They held a four-point lead at halftime and despite falling way behind in the third quarter, they came back to keep it close in the fourth.

“I feel like there’s way more good than bad,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “We won the first half. We won the fourth quarter. The game got away from us in the third quarter ... I think there’s moments where our attention to detail slips a little bit, but that’s part of the growing process ... That team’s been in the Western Conference Finals twice. They’re a really good team, and I’m proud of the way that our team is fighting and competing.”

As far as Bailey is concerned, Hardy only had good things to say. Once again, he showed his willingness to make winning plays by digging out hard rebounds, crashing with purpose from the corners, cutting hard and making smart reads.

Though his final stat line won’t jump off the page and scream ‘future superstar,’ it’s nothing to turn your nose up at: 10 points, seven rebounds (four offensive), three steals, two assists. But beyond the boxscore, there were more signs that Bailey has a bag full of tricks and his mind in the right place.

There was this reverse dunk:

There was this one-legged, hop-back jumper:

And there was Bailey crediting his mother for his nose for rebounding:

The Jazz were playing without Taylor Hendricks (sore right hamstring) and Kyle Anderson (low back soreness) on Monday night, in addition to Walker Kessler (shoulder surgery) being out for the season, so it made sense for Bailey to move up in the rotation.

It sounds as if the plan is to keep Bailey in the starting unit for the time being. While he probably would have liked to have a different end result, Monday night was a dream come true for Bailey.

“Mission accomplished,” he said.