Utah Jazz vs. Washington Wizards: Recap and Final Score

The Utah Jazz won (or lost, from a tanking lens) against the Washington Wizards, with a final score of 122-112

Funny enough, Trae Young made his Wizards debut tonight. Conveniently, he was on a 20-minute restriction and didn’t play in the final quarter of the game (but what about anti-competitive behavior and integrity of the game!) and finished with 12 points, six assists, and three turnovers. To be clear, I don’t blame the Wizards for this – its something of a jab to the NBA to bring your player back from “injury” and play him against a fellow tanking team on a minutes restriction.

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Regardless of this win’s lottery sting, a shining takeaway from tonight was Ace Bailey’s play. In the 10 games before tonight, Bailey has played the best basketball of his rookie season, averaging nearly 15 points and 6 rebounds a game. Tonight he reached a career high with 32 points from 12-19 shooting from the field, including 7-11 from three.

Every player looks better when their shot is falling, of course. But it’s especially clear how high his ceiling is when the combination of his athletic fluidity, length, size, and touch come together. The Jazz need this type of wing creation if they want to compete next season. Hopefully Bailey continues this trajectory.

Notably, Isaiah Collier, who has also improved his play as of late (despite possessing the ball nearly 50% of the time when he’s on the court!), finished with 27 points and 11 assists. I can imagine that next year, Collier will not have the ball so much when all of Utah’s weapons return. But it’s important he gets opportunities to run the offense – both Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. rely on their guards to set them up for good looks.

The Jazz continue their roadtrip and face off against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.