Game 66: Utah Jazz (31-34) @ Dallas Mavericks (33-32)

[Inigo Montoya]

Kessler is listed as day-to-day. Sexton is still out.

With Luka and Irving, this is another game that could get ugly if we can't contain them. Perhaps Dunn could help slow Irving down. At least Markkanen is supposed to be playing.

We are still not that far from the 6th pick, only 3 losses away.

[Crunch 99]

The status of Kessler and Clarkson has changed from QUESTIONABLE to OUT. So Sexton, Clarkson and Kessler are OUT.

Read on Twitter

[red4hf]

Jazz have played much better than expected...... But THT is just not looking good out there...... Forcing way too much......

[Crunch 99]

Wait. Wasn't this game pre-determined to be a blowout? What the heck are the short-handed Jazz doing tied at 104-104 with 5:27 left in the game?

[Inigo Montoya]

Much respect to the Jazz, this game ended up being much closer than it had any right to be. Even Sexton was animated on the bench at the end.

Juazng: 2-9FG
Agbaji: 2-11FG
Fontecchio: 2-8FG

If any one of them had an average shooting night, or even if collectively each of them makes one more shot this could have been a W.

Markkanen balled out, even if he uncharacteristically missed 3 straight free throws at some point.

The other standout was Dunn, who continues to play well.

At this point it does feel like the Jazz are tanking. We traded away depth at the deadline and now we're sitting out different players every game just to make sure we aren't too competitive. But then again, I've been wrong about the Jazz tanking all season long so who knows.

[Crunch 99]

My Jazz stream failed early in the game and I didn't tune back in to the game until part way through the fourth quarter, but I will post my two cents anyway: I am happy that THT scored an efficient 10 points on 6 fga in Q4, but I was bummed that during the last 7:14 of the game, when both Dunn and THT were on the floor together, veteran Kris Dunn didn't touch the ball on nearly every offensive possession. I was also unhappy that THT had more field goal attempts than Markkanen in Q4 and had 0 assists. And finally, I was irritated that THT took a contested, step back three point attempt early on the 24 second clock with 4:52 left in the game.

Veteran Kris Dunn still came out with a significantly higher HELP VALUE than THT while playing ten fewer minutes, with HELP VALUE defined as rebounds + assists + steals + blocks - tovs, and Dunn had a good 61.9% TS% .

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised that the Jazz were still in this game late, and I am happy that THT had 21 points for the game on a good 61.5% TS%.

[SoCalJazzFan]

Fun, exciting game that ended with a perfect tank loss. Jazz currently 8th worst record. Keep them coming!

[FranchisePlayer]

THT walks away from this game with more TOs than ASTs. Now that's a bad look!

It gets even worse when you put together all the GSs and see: He has 25 AST, in 6 games that's ok IMO, but also 30(!) TOs. That's ratio couldn't be worse.

A couple of games ago I referred to a longer leash in evaluating him but at some point you're bound to think you want to see more of Dunn. I mean he's been a good soldier and to me his numbers so far are way above expectations.

With a better PG Markkanen could've single handedly win this game for us. He was practically unstoppable.

[FranchisePlayer]

Rudy Gay collected as many AST as THT in half the playing minutes. Seriously, WTF.

[PaKii94]

THT walks away from this game with more TOs than ASTs. Now that's a bad look!

It gets even worse when you put together all the GSs and see: He has 25 AST, in 6 games that's ok IMO, but also 30(!) TOs. That's ratio couldn't be worse.

A couple of games ago I referred to a longer leash in evaluating him but at some point you're bound to think you want to see more of Dunn. I mean he's been a good soldier and to me his numbers so far are way above expectations.

With a better PG Markkanen could've single handedly win this game for us. He was practically unstoppable.

Yeah THT was horrible in his PG role. Time and time again he looked off the #1 option in Lauri and decided to take it upon himself to score. Due to mavs weak defense he did score but he didn't help setup the team for a win at all.

[BigJimFinn]

THT walks away from this game with more TOs than ASTs. Now that's a bad look!

It gets even worse when you put together all the GSs and see: He has 25 AST, in 6 games that's ok IMO, but also 30(!) TOs. That's ratio couldn't be worse.

A couple of games ago I referred to a longer leash in evaluating him but at some point you're bound to think you want to see more of Dunn. I mean he's been a good soldier and to me his numbers so far are way above expectations.

You are welcome. Our exchange reminded me of the statistician who came home from a walk and noticed a fleck of brown on his shoe.
"Well, it looks like ****. It smells like ****. It tastes like ****. But I will need a bigger sample."
THT isn't ****, he could be a useful rotation guy in a specific role, but he isn't a PG and will never be a starting PG.

I am the opposite of a Kris Dunn fan, but he is clearly the best PG on this roster by default of being the only PG on this roster.
He also seems to have improved his shot selection by working for shorter junk shots in the paint instead of the 12' pull-up he used to love forcing up. His 3p shooting form may be a bit better too, the volume just isn't there when he only takes wide open catch-and-shoot threes (100% of makes assisted). A PG unable to shoot off the dribble is a huge limitation, which is why I still don't recommend signing him for more than 2 years at vet min.