Utah

Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans Recap: Zion Williamson knocks out the Jazz

Published

1 year ago

January 18, 2025

Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans Recap: Zion Williamson knocks out the Jazz

The Utah Jazz move to (10-30) after a (123-136) loss to the (11-32) New Orleans Pelicans. A late scratch to Walker Kessler and the that void was noticeable.

Game Overview

1st Quarter

The First Quarter was underway and the Pelicans were just dominating Utah on both ends of the floor. CJ McCollum started 5-5 from three and put up a quick 15 points before missing his first shot of the game. The early scratch to Kessler meant that defending the paint was going to be a team effort and through the first quarter, Zion and Dejounte Murray were exposing that paint. On offense, Collin Sexton was the only one to really get any points for Utah, but most of those were from the stripe. The Pelicans were quicker to every ball and caused Utah 5 turnovers in the quarter. The first quarter ended with Utah(22) to New Orleans(42).

2nd Quarter

The Second Quarter started like the first and the pace of the Pelican’s play was extremely quick. The passing and kickouts to the three absolutely killed Utah in this first half and Utah’s defense was just not quick enough to close out. The Jazz did have their fair share of open shots but didn’t start hitting them until the 8-minute mark where Utah then went on a 11-0 run. At this point, we started to see some life in the Jazz and the defensive intensity started to improve as well. The half ended with Utah(52) to New Orleans(61).

3rd Quarter

Coming out of the break the Pelicans got out to an early 10-0 run until Collin Sexton got the first buckets of the quarter for Utah. Drew Eubanks had a strong performance on the defensive end being an absolute wall against Zion and you could see a noticeable difference to when he was in vs out. Daniel Theis’ known big man shooter was hurting the Jazz with his three ball. The quarter ended with Utah(80) to New Orleans(96).

4th Quarter

The final quarter was underway and it looked like the Pelicans were told to buckle up on defense because Jose Alvarado was full-court pressing Utah to start the quarter. It worked. The Jazz went cold on offense. The Pelicans took advantage, led by Zion who started to become more of a presence and dominated, nothing Drew Eubanks could do. The three-ball was also going in the Pelican’s favor and it just seemed like they couldn’t miss. The game ended with Utah losing(123) to New Orleans(136).

Game Recap: for Dummies, Casuals, and Hoop Nerds

Go to where you think fits your basketball knowledge best, If you need help knowing which section to go to, no worries let me help.

Recap for Dummies: These are for fans learning the sport of basketball or just giving the sport a chance. Excited to have you, and props to you for joining at such an interesting time of the franchise.

Recap for Casuals: This section is for the fans who don’t care about advanced stats and just enjoy the product on the court. It’s also for fans who don’t catch every game but are just curious how the team’s doing once in a while, or wanting to know how the team did against a big name like tonight in Zion Williamson.

Recap for Hoop Nerds: This section is for the diehards of Jazz Basketball. These are the people who catch every Hoops Nerd live stream and have followed the Utah Jazz their whole life. The people who have been through thick and thin. The athletes who thought they were good enough to go pro or coach in the league but had to turn down the offers for the betterment of their “family.”

Recap For Dummies

One of the biggest factors of this game was the Pelican’s ability to drive and kick out extremely well against the Jazz.

A drive and kick out is when an attacking player attacks the paint in hopes of drawing attention from defenders which then gives the attacking player an open person to pass the ball out to usually over the three-point line.

Dejounte Murray did this extremely well which led to Utah not being able to stop the defender(close out) quickly enough. This led to the Pelicans having a field day from three early on in the game.

Another factor that changed this game was the amount of offensive rebounds the Pelicans were able to have.

Offensive rebounds are a big way teams get into big leads, these rebounds lead to second-chance points and a restart on the 24-second shot clock which gives you another opportunity to score on the offensive end.

A big part of why New Orleans was having such high success on the rebound matchup was because Utah was missing third-year Center Walker Kessler. Kessler, who was an early scratch for the game, has been having a career year. At the moment he has a strong argument for being the team’s best player at the moment.

Recap For Casuals

The Utah Jazz are now (3-7) but for a rebuilding team like Utah most of these games have been great for the team’s development.

From a watchability standpoint, Sexton will always have to be up there. His first game back from injury and man was he electric. He is physical and always has an extremely strong work ethic. Sexton has been having a career year and that’s why other teams around the league are keeping an eye on the Young Bull.

Not a great night from 9th overall pick Cody Williams who is still trying to find himself in the league. Williams spent a lot of time in the G-League this season but recently has been playing consistent minutes with the first team. But if we keep it real, he was absolutely invisible. Not what you want to see from your 9th overall pick almost halfway through the season.

For New Orleans, Zion only played 22 minutes and dominated in 19 of those 22. The Pelicans are still bringing Williamson back to full fitness after being out for most of this season. But man was that 4th quarter dominant.

It looked like the team was saving his energy for that quarter and holy crap he’s a freak of nature who just needs to stay healthy.

A shoutout does need to be given to Drew Eubanks who tried his best and did have some good stops. The score would have looked worse if he wasn’t down there tonight.

Recap For Hoop Nerds

Holy Crap New Orleans absolutely cooked Utah from three tonight. The Pelicans shot 44% from three tonight to Utah’s 34.2%.

The Pelicans three-point runs were crazy starting with CJ McCollum beginning the game with a quick 15 going (5-5) from three before missing his first of the game. Then Jose Alvarado and company looked like a game of 2k in the fourth quarter scorching the net.

Besides that Utah was pretty close in most of the stats. Just shows why teams favor the three-ball so much more.

New Orleans also outrebounded Utah (64-49) with 21 of those coming from the offensive end. Walker Kessler you were missed. But Drew Eubanks did hold his own for most of the game and ended up with 17 points, 4 blocks, and 7 rebounds.

Another thing that absolutely destroyed Utah tonight was transition. Every time the Pelicans grabbed a rebound it looked like 3 of them were already down the court.

Cody Williams put up zero points, and had a -31 plus minus, just gonna leave it at that, don’t look at my preview.

Svi Mykhailiuk shot 3-10 from three but ended with 16 points.

Collier didn’t have a bad game. Had 8 points and 11 assists. Collier could very easily be getting double-doubles every game if he stays on this trajectory and just continues his growth on the offensive end.

Players that need to be traded yesterday

As much as Sexton’s fun to watch and a great guy by the way. Get this man to a contender ASAP!!! Give those minutes back to Collier. There’s no reason to play him for 31 minutes and I’m so sick of his hero ball sometimes.

Also if that rumor about Clarkson to Dallas is true I could see that being a great fit for him. He would also be on a contender so I would really like to see that happen.

Was this good for the tank?

Absolutely! With this loss, The Pelicans now jump Utah and with the Hornets winning today Utah’s lottery odds just jumped drastically. If Utah keeps up how they’ve been playing and the right moves happen by the trade deadline we could be seeing a lot of development and minutes the second half of the season.

If you enjoy this format and are interested to learn about Hockey and the newest NHL franchise in Utah. Check out Brogan Houston(Writer for Desert News about the Utah Hockey Club) who gave me this idea! He’s an absolute amazing source for newcomers to the sport and an amazing writer.

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/01/17/utah-hockey-club-loses-5-3-to-new-york-rangers/ Link to most recent game recap.

Next Game

Who: Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans

When: January 20th, 6:00PM Mountain Time

Where: Smoothie King Center- New Orleans, LA

Watch: Jazz+, KJZZ

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Utah

Lawsuit claims Utah teen killed by counterfeit airbag

Published

7 hours ago

March 4, 2026

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Lawsuit claims Utah teen killed by counterfeit airbag

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A wrongful death lawsuit filed in Utah alleges a counterfeit airbag turned a routine crash into a fatal explosion that killed a teenage driver within minutes.

Alexia De La Rosa graduated from Hunter High School in May of 2025. On July 30, 2025, she was involved in a crash.

The lawsuit alleges that when the vehicle’s driver-side airbag deployed, it detonated and sent metal and plastic shrapnel into the cabin.

MORE | Crashes

A large, jagged piece of metal struck Alexia in the chest, and she died minutes later, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit, filed by Morgan & Morgan in Utah’s Third Judicial District Court, was brought on behalf of Tessie De La Rosa, as personal representative of the estate of her 17-year-old daughter.

The defendants are AutoSavvy Holdings Inc., AutoSavvy Dealerships LLC, and AutoSavvy Management Company LLC.

Morgan & Morgan alleges that the Hyundai Sonata had previously been declared a total loss after a 2023 crash and issued a salvage title. The suit claims AutoSavvy later purchased the vehicle and had it repaired — during which counterfeit, non-compliant, and defective airbag components were allegedly installed — before reselling it to the De La Rosa family.

The complaint further alleges that AutoSavvy knew or should have known the vehicle contained counterfeit and nonfunctional airbag components when it was sold.

“This is the third wrongful death lawsuit we have filed involving alleged counterfeit airbags that we believe turned survivable crashes into fatal incidents,” Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan said in a statement. “No life should be cut short because a corporation puts profits above safety.”

Attorney Andrew Parker Felix, who is leading the case, said the firm is committed to uncovering how allegedly illegal airbag inflators enter the stream of commerce and are installed in vehicles sold to consumers.

“To make this perfectly clear, these are not supposed to be in the United States at all,” Felix said. “They are not approved for use in any vehicle that’s being driven in the United States.”

“They don’t have approval from any governmental agency to be installed in vehicles that are driven within the United States and regulated here,” he added.

Morgan & Morgan says it is investigating at least three additional deaths involving other defendants and alleged counterfeit airbags.

KUTV 2News reached out to AutoSavvy multiple times by email and phone. We were told a member of the company’s legal team would be in touch, but as of publication we have not received a response.

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Why U. President Taylor Randall, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox plan to meet with Donald Trump this week

Published

19 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Why U. President Taylor Randall, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox plan to meet with Donald Trump this week

Randall will be among several key visitors in attendance for a meeting on March 6

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah President Taylor Randall speaks on campus during an event on Feb. 7.

University of Utah President Taylor Randall is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump this week.

Randall is expected to be among several attendees at a White House roundtable meeting on Friday to discuss solutions for the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics with the president, a U. spokesperson said.

The meeting could be postponed, however, due to the war in Iran. As of Monday, “the odds of it happening this week are 50-50 at best,” according to Yahoo Sports.

If the roundtable happens as scheduled, the guest list includes several current and former notable figures in sports, including NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, golf legend Tiger Woods and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed in a social media post on X that he would be in attendance as well.

“Thank you [President Donald Trump] for inviting me to participate, and for your commitment to addressing challenges in college sports,” Cox said on X. “[Taylor Randall] is a great university leader who will work with us on solutions for this critical issue.”

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah President Taylor Randall speaks on campus on Feb. 7.

Earlier this year, Randall was called on by the federal House Committee on Education and Workforce to schedule a briefing to discuss the school’s planned private-equity partnership with Otro Capital, according to a report from Sportico.

The Utes announced their proposal in December of last year, which is a first-of-its-kind agreement between a university’s athletic department and a private equity company.

Utah’s deal with Otro has yet to be finalized. In a Feb. 10 interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Randall said the university is “still just working through all of the issues systematically.”

“We want to do this in the right way to set both of us up for future success,” he added.

The move is expected to infuse hundreds of millions of dollars into the U.’s athletic department to help sustain the financial future of the program with rising deficits across the industry.

“I don’t think any of us would prefer to be in this situation right now,” Randall said in a faculty senate meeting in January. “But it just is what we’re facing.”

For over 150 years, The Salt Lake Tribune has been Utah’s independent news source. Our reporters work tirelessly to uncover the stories that matter most to Utahns, from unraveling the complexities of court rulings to allowing tax payers to see where and how their hard earned dollars are being spent. This critical work wouldn’t be possible without people like you—individuals who understand the importance of local, independent journalism. As a nonprofit newsroom, every subscription and every donation fuels our mission, supporting the in-depth reporting that shines a light on the is sues shaping Utah today.

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Utah snowpack numbers looking dismal with not much time to catch up

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Utah snowpack numbers looking dismal with not much time to catch up

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The 2025-2026 winter season isn’t quite over, but it’s no secret that it’s been a rough one when it comes to snow. Right now, statewide snowpack numbers are hovering around 60% of the median.

But you don’t have to know those numbers to understand what a strange winter it’s been.

“It’s kind of good,” said Carrie Stewart, who lives in Salt Lake City. “I mean, I like it because I like a milder climate. But I realize this summer is going to be hard.”

MORE | Snowpack

“I’m not sad I’m not shoveling,” said Sally Humphreys of Salt Lake City. “But it’s definitely worrying.”

State water officials are also worried. The clock is ticking to bulk up those snowpack numbers.

“We’re running out of time to get the snowpack that we need,” said Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey. “We have about 40 or so days until our typical snowpack peak.”

There is still some time to make up lost ground, but the odds aren’t great. Clayton estimates a 10% chance of reaching normal by the end of the season.

“Those are terrible odds,” he said.

In fact, the odds of having a record low snowpack are greater, sitting at 20%. It’s a grim reality that has officials looking toward the summer anxiously.

“I would expect to see watering restrictions outdoors for a lot of places,” said Laura Haskell, Utah’s drought coordinator.

It’s unknown what the next few weeks will bring, but if Haskell had to guess, she doesn’t see state reservoirs filling up much from where they are now.

“In the spring when that runoff hits, we do get a noticeable peak in our reservoir storage,” Haskell said. “The water just starts coming in. But this year, we don’t anticipate getting that.”

Haskell says we have enough reservoir storage to likely make it through the summer, but there are other implications to worry about.

Our autumn season was pretty wet. That led to decent soil moisture levels, which can then lead to higher vegetation growth.

“If we then have a snowpack that melts out really early, we’ll have a longer than normal summer, if you will, with forage growth that might dry out, and so that’s kind of a bad recipe for promoting fire hazard,” Clayton said.

Utahns have dealt with low snowpack levels in the past. Many Utahns are familiar with their lawn turning brown because of water restrictions.

“We’ll probably just let it go that nice, sandy, golden color that it gets in the summer in a dry climate,” said Dea Ann Kate, who lives in Cottonwood Heights.

As we wait to see what the next few weeks bring, people like Carrie Stewart are just reflecting on an unusual winter.

“It is worrying,” she said. “We need snow. We’ve only shoveled once this season, and that’s very unusual.”

Water officials are now hoping for something else unusual: climbing out of the snowpack hole that’s been created.

“But there are no times going back where the snowpack totals for the state were close to where they are right now, and we ended up actually at a normal peak,” Clayton said. “So while it’s possible, it’s very unlikely.”

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