Jazz 130, Spurs 118: 4 Key Takeaways

Lauri Markkanen scored 31 points, while Jordan Clarkson chipped in 24 as the Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs 130-118. Keldon Johnson led the Spurs with 26 points in a losing cause.

Utah continues the momentum they had before the Christmas break with an impressive road win. This is the first time this season the Jazz have strung three wins in a row and have now won four out of their last five games. Utah is now only three games removed from making the play-in-tournament.

Let’s break down the takeaways as Utah improves to 13-18 on the season.

Keynonte George Returns as a Reserve

George's first game back after a six-game hiatus was coming off the bench. Head coach Will Hardy decided to go with a starting backcourt of Kris Dunn and Collin Sexton.

George was still a part of the rotation, but moving forward, the current starting backcourt gives Utah’s starting five more balance, with Dunn as the facilitator and Sexton as a scoring threat at the two. George finished the game with 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting. Despite not starting the game, George should still get enough live reps on the court that won't hinder his growth.

Clarkson Continued to Shine as Sixth Man

The former Sixth Man of the Year followed his 30-point performance versus the Toronto Raptors with 24 points while dishing out eight assists. Ultimately, Clarkson fouled out of the game, but that shouldn’t take away from solid back-to-back performances.

This is good news for Utah, with the trade deadline lurking. Clarkson’s name keeps coming up in the rumor mill, and if he does get moved, his current play bodes well for a potential return Utah could get.

Talen Horton-Tucker Odd Man Out

This time around, it was Horton-Tucker being taken out of the rotation. It may have been because he’s still nursing a left foot injury, or has Dunn leapfrogged him in the pecking order?

Before the injury, Horton-Tucker played his best game of the year, scoring 19 points while dishing out 11 assists. However, from this point of view, Dunn always made more sense because of his ability to defend and is a more natural fit at the one.

"THT's" contract expires this year, and his future with Utah is somewhat murky. How Hardy juggles the rotational minutes in the backcourt will be an ongoing story throughout the year.

Six Jazzmen in Double Figures

The Jazz demonstrated how deep their team is, with six players posting double figures in the box score. More impressively, four players did it in a reserve roll.

Ochai Agbaji and Walker Kessler joined Markkanen, George, Clarkson, and Sexton with the balanced scoring attack. If Utah has an edge over some of the playoff contenders, it will be with its depth. As Hardy gets more comfortable with his rotations, expect the Jazz to continue to compete as we get deeper into the season.

Next up for Utah is a road game versus the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night with a tip-off time of 6:00 p.m.

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