Lauri Markkanen shares immediate reaction to Cavaliers upset

ByNBAUSA


The The Utah Jazz had such an embarrassing loss over the weekend — a 55-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets — but many people forget that they were without their best player in Lauri Markkanenwhich is mixed in and out of the lineup for load management. On the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, Markkanen returned to the lineup, and the improvement was evident as the Jazz cruised to a 123-112 victory to get back on track.

Markkanen may not be the kind of ball-dominant star one would think of as a prototypical team leader, but his gravitas off the ball and his growing connection with star Keyonte George have been the Jazz’s lifeline all season. In his return to the lineup, the Jazz forward scored 28 points on 8-16 shooting from the field, and credit to the whole team because we played so well together.

“Just play together and play hard. … It’s a tough team and it’s always hard to win on the road, so it’s a good win for us,” Markkanen told Jazz reporter Lauren Green after the game. “It’s a constant improvement (on defense). We’ve shown we can do it. It’s just about doing it consistently. And tonight was a good night to show we can do it again, against a good team.”

The Jazz just need to go big in the draft

Jazz guard Keyonte George is fired up
© Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Jazz are putting together a quality young core, and Markkanen is leading the way George, who scored 32 points from the games, who broke out in his third season in the league. But so many questions remain about the rest of the roster.

Ace Bailey has been up and down in his rookie campaign. None of the likes of Brice Sensabo, Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks and Kyle Filipowski have really separated themselves as long-term goaltenders. While time is on the Jazz’s side, a big splash in this year’s draft is paramount to their hopes of taking the next step in their rebuild.





2026-01-13 04:03:00

Similar Posts