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Keyonte George led the effort with 21 points for the Utah Jazz
Well, Jazz fans, it’s been a season. It wasn’t the worst—in fact, it was the 9th worst—but it certainly wasn’t the best. Welcome to the rebuild. The team concluded their 2023-2024 campaign in a way that was a microcosm of the season as a whole: they started Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, and some spare parts. Will Hardy had them playing as well as could be expected, the rookies showed true promise, but they didn’t quite have enough gas in the tank to pull out the victory.
The game started as the Omer Yurtseven and Luka at Home Show, with the pair combining for 8 of the team’s first 10 points. Keyonte George and Taylor Hendricks got in on the action after that, headlined by a six-point spurt by Taylor:
This dunk kicked off 6-straight points from the rook#TakeNote | @tayxhendricks pic.twitter.com/kG8y6f04u1
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 14, 2024
The rooks continued to go toe-to-toe with Kevon Looney and Klay Thompson, and when the clock hit triple zeroes it was Warriors 33, Jazz 27.
The second quarter was a tantalizing look at what the rookies are capable of, with Brice Sensabaugh, Taylor Hendricks, and Keyonte George all showcasing their skills, including this beautiful sequence:
...as well as this yam by Hendricks:
The Jazz started the half down seven, but they didn’t go away. The rookies continued to shine, with Keyonte George hitting three triples in the quarter.
When the dust settled, the Jazz had scrapped, clawed, and made up one point, finding themselves down 95-89 going into the 4th. Kira Lewis Jr. captained the backcourt, Kenneth Lofton Jr headlined the frontcourt, and the Jazz still didn’t quit.
After falling behind 101-89 they went on a bit of heater and tied it at 111. That’s when the wheels fell off for good, and the 2023-24 season came to a merciful, yet somewhat hopeful, end. Thank you to everyone who stuck with us this season! We’ll have lots of good draft and other offseason content, so stay tuned.
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