Utah
Walker Kessler scores career-high 31 points in Jazz loss to Kings
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SALT LAKE CITY — The primary play the Utah Jazz ran on Saturday evening in Sacramento was for Walker Kessler.
Talen Horton-Tucker set an off-ball display screen in the course of the paint that freed up Kessler for an alley-oop dunk. It was the beginning of a career-night for the rookie heart in Utah’s 121-113 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Heart.
By the tip of the sport, Kessler had a career-high 31 factors on 14-of-16 taking pictures and 11 rebounds. It was tied for the fourth-most factors scored by an NBA rookie this season, and the primary time ever a Jazz rookie had a 30-point, 10-rebound sport. Kessler’s earlier profession excessive was 23 factors.
“He was large,” Kelly Olynyk stated. “An amazing, nice sport by him, nice effort.”
So what bought into Kessler on Saturday?
Truthfully, nothing that was a fluke. Kessler scored all 16 of his discipline aim makes an attempt within the paint, and 14 of these got here contained in the restricted space. However it was removed from being a case the place he was greater than everybody else on the court docket.
He beat defenders down the court docket in transition and timed cuts completely to be open on the rim; he confirmed off his growing pick-and-roll sport, as he dived to the ring and completed over defenders. On one play within the fourth quarter, Kessler even had a pleasant submit transfer that led to a banked hook shot.
“I am at all times gonna play onerous,” Kessler stated. “So tonight simply occurred to occur to go nicely.”
That is placing it a bit flippantly.
Kessler modestly stated the ball bounced his means, however he principally put himself in the proper place for the ball to constantly discover him on Saturday.
“When he runs the ground like that and places stress on the rim, that vertical spacing the place you possibly can simply throw it up the place different guys cannot get it, that is an enormous benefit for us,” Olynyk stated. “So he is bought to maintain doing that, hold working to get higher, however he was actually, actually good tonight, and that is what we’d like from him.”
Kessler has confirmed time and time once more that he is usually a game-changing defensive pressure. Saturday confirmed that he can do a little bit of a dominating on the offensive finish, too.
Kessler’s 12-point second quarter helped the Jazz to a 6-point halftime lead. In that quarter, he confirmed off the vertical spacing, the place he caught a excessive cross after a robust minimize for a straightforward layup, and completed a layup over two defenders after getting a bounce cross within the paint.
Close to the tip of the quarter, he waited till Domantas Sabonis dedicated to a driving Kris Dunn to chop shortly to the basket for what ended up being a straightforward dunk.
“Tonight, my teammates discovered me in the proper spots, so I admire that so much,” Kessler stated.
However it was Kessler that put himself in these spots.
The dangerous information for the Jazz on Saturday was that Sacramento has a rookie that is fairly good, too. Keegan Murray scored 22 factors and was 6-of-12 taking pictures from 3-point vary. His late 3-pointer served because the dagger to Utah’s upset bid and put the Kings up by 9 factors with 1:56 left to play.
“We knew we weren’t going to give up, no matter who was sitting,” Kessler stated. “I am tremendous happy with this crew and the way they performed. Clearly, disillusioned we did not get the win, however I believe it says so much about our crew.”
And it stated so much about Kessler’s potential — on each side of the court docket.