Recap: Utah’s Keyonte George delivers the dagger against the reeling Chicago Bulls

With seconds on the clock, curling around a screen on the right wing, Keyonte caught a laser in rhythm, and his catch-and-shoot sledgehammer snapped through the net to drive the final nail into …

Are the Utah Jazz making a play-in push? I don’t know, maybe, but in emotional and exciting battles like this one against the Chicago Bulls, it’s hard not to smile as Utah shreds its own lottery ticket.

Defense? Never heard of her. How strange is it that we live in a world where basketball teams regularly stretch near 100 points before the end of the 3rd quarter? Without a defensive anchor, Walker Kessler, roaming the hardwood plains, the Utah Jazz hemorrhaged points against the Chicago Bulls, while piling a second, third, and even fourth helping of points onto their scoring total with no regard for their belt, the limits of the scoreboard, or their viewers’ ability to stomach such indulgent quantities.

Complaining about the lack of defense in today’s league makes me feel like an old man, and I haven’t even eclipsed a quarter of a century. Yuck. Though I suppose, in a double-overtime epic like this one, who cares about point totals?

The post-Jordan era Chicago Bulls have been one of basketball’s greatest enigmas in the sport’s professional history. No championships, a smattering of mediocrity, and team after team that promises glory while garnishing a hollow trophy case since the year 2000 (with respect to the ne’er-to-be-forgotten Derrick Rose MVP season, of course).

Perhaps we can chalk this up to a John Stockton-Karl Malone curse? The Utah Jazz have reached the NBA Finals just twice in franchise history, in back-to-back seasons as the MJ buzzsaw sliced through one of the most potent basketball duos the game has ever seen.

With all this in mind, please forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical of this season’s apparent success for the Chicago Bulls. They began the year with an incredible 6-1 record behind tremendous play by Josh Giddey and Nikola Vucevic, as the team officially shed the chains of the DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine era of, well, mediocrity in the Windy City. The Sacramento Bulls thank you for your donation.

But since that sixth win, the Bulls have lost four straight to teams with winning records. This meeting against the red-hot combo of Markkanen and Bailey (how I’ve longed to say that) promises a change for the faltering Bulls, however, as point guard Coby White (owner of the greatest hair in the league) is set to make his season debut after nursing a calf injury.

Correcting course and setting sail for familiar territory in the draft lottery, Utah’s front office has to understand that games against Chicago are not for the Jazz to be winning, no matter how capable the team may be. In all honesty, this team at full strength may very well be play-in caliber with the surging production of Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, and Ace Bailey.

But let us remember, with an eye on the horrific records dwelling near the bottom of the standings, Utah cannot afford to miss out on this apparently stacked draft class.

Judges, today the Utah Jazz have baked a tanking tart, complete with a smattering of ghostly defense, plenty of minutes in the oven for rising star Svi Mykhailiuk, and a raspberry filling. Recalling the objective of this season, having seen enough of Cam Boozer, AJ Dybatnsa, and Darryn Peterson to understand that falling anywhere outside of the top three could be a crime punishable by death.

…But sometimes winning is just so much fun. More on that in a minute.

Ace Bailey has finally been put into the starting lineup and is kicking all kinds of butt on his way… that is, until foul trouble threw off his groove, and saw him spending most of the night’s game with his butt planted firmly on the bench.

In the previous two games, Bailey’s stat sheet read as follows:

vs Indiana: 20 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast, 53.8% FG, 50% 3PT
vs Atlanta: 21 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 61.5% FG, 57.1 3PT

Against Chicago, Bailey’s six fouls in 10 minutes stifled his production:

vs Chicago: 5 pts, 1 reb, 1 blk, 40% FG, 33% 3PT

Despite the poor overall showing today, Ace’s recent production has Utah finally buzzing about star potential.

Speaking of star potential, I’d like to say a quick word about one Keyonte George, who turned a slow start (5 points in the first half) into one of the primary reasons why this team remained competitive throughout this contest, as he finished with 34 points, 6 dimes, and 4 steals, including repeated buckets in clutch moments. His ability to draw fouls and hit free throws (shooting over 92% on the year) has completely expanded the limits of his production. A leader on the team, having matured both mentally and physically, Keyonte George’s leap in year 3 has been revelatory.

And by primary reasons, I mean non-Lauri Markkanen reasons, as the Finnisher lathered layer after layer of paint coats onto his stable and steady Delta Center home. Lauri, already averaging over 30 a night, stuffed the points column with 47 points all his own. Unreal. Down the stretch, he was a guaranteed basket. Collecting fouls, knocking through pick-and-pop jumpers, and reliably finding the next gear to answer every Chicago punch. Truthfully, it will take a severe fall from grace for Lauri to whiff on the All-Star game this season, right?

The Utah Jazz have an undeniable star in their midst. Whether you’re in camp ‘Trade Lauri’ or camp ‘Keep Lauri’, his value as an asset may be at an all-time high — we are witnessing his prime.

Brice Sensabaugh, buddy, welcome back to the show. After a quiet first half, Sensabaugh ignited an explosion of production, whipping absurd passes to open teammates and torching the nylon on the other end for his own stat line. On defense, his effort was undeniable — he was everywhere, whether that reflected in production or not. This is why he was on the floor in OT — he’s earning Will Hardy’s trust.

Even Isaiah Collier enjoyed a strong night, tallying 17 points and 7 assists on excellent efficiency and sharing the floor well with Keyonte. Unfortunately, Collier’s reliability came at the expense of minutes for Walter Clayton Jr, though the decision to run with the second-year USC product is an understandable one.

The fourth quarter was as cinematic as the script-writers could have drafted it, with this game seeing so many lead changes that ESPN’s win probability chart in the late game read exactly like my heartbeat; my eyes firmly glued to the screen. Everybody shut up — I’m watching the Jazz.

Do you know what’s even better than four quarters of basketball? May I introduce you to my dear friend, overtime? Keyonte’s fallaway jumper missed everything as time expired, and overtime began.

Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, and Brice Sensabaugh became the super friends in the final period. George splashed stepback threes. Sensabaugh rattled a contested elbow jumper through the cylinder. Markkanen, in defiance of Isaac Newton’s life’s work, snuck a heavily contested mid-range flip shot through the rim while fully parallel to the Earth.

The final seconds of OT drained like oatmeal. Moments turned to minutes, and minutes physically aged me by years at a time. With Utah up two points, Coby White — head on a swivel — forced a jump ball and the Bulls converted a layup on the other end.

The second OT started out all Utah. The Bulls were caught with foul after foul, and the Jazz bought a timeshare at the foul stripe. Markkanen and George converted the charity shots at a high rate, and points were tallied without the passage of time. Chicago kept itself within an arm’s reach, and a Coby White pump-fake-jump-forward shot with his foot on the line opened the door for White to sink his 13th and 14th free throws and knot the score, 147-147.

With seconds on the clock, curling around a screen on the right wing, Keyonte caught a laser in rhythm, and his catch-and-shoot sledgehammer snapped through the net to drive the final nail into Chicago’s coffin. Keyonte George drilled his 34th point in the evening’s climax.

Keyonte would not miss his second chance to seal the win. His release was pure, the result even more so. Ball game.

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.

Source: Utah News