Jazz slide extends to double digits in 111-97 loss to Bulls

SALT LAKE CITY — Not even a little St. Patrick's Day luck could give the Utah Jazz a break from losing on Monday.

Instead, the sea of green apparel at the Delta Center seemed to represent a giant green light signaling "full speed ahead" for the home team headed for the worst record in the NBA this season, and thus the best chance at drafting Duke superstar Cooper Flagg.

It wasn't for a lack of trying against the visiting Chicago Bulls, either. The Jazz started star big men Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler after catching flak (and a fine) for resting players over the last several games.

Head coach Will Hardy even commended the effort from his team on the whole in a 111-97 loss to extend the skid to 10 games.

"I actually feel really good about the team's effort tonight," Hardy said. "The guys competed really hard. I think 17 turnovers hurt us a bit. Give Chicago credit, they kept us off the offensive glass with only four offensive rebounds tonight. And the reality is we couldn't stretch their defense out enough because we didn't make any threes."

The team actually did make some threes, but the hyperbole is understandable after the Jazz started 0-for-8 from distance and shot just 21% from beyond the arc on the night. The starting lineup went 2-for-21 from 3-point range on the night, including 1-for-8 for Markkanen, and five attempts without a make from newly encouraged shooter Kessler.

The 7-footer from Georgia went from just a single 3-point attempt over the first 67 games of the season to 11 between the last two games against Minnesota and Chicago.

He is now 3-for-12 from 3-point range on the season since Hardy has encouraged the third-year big to experiment and expand his game over the remainder of the season with Utah eliminated from playoff contention.

"Coach (Hardy) is a big proponent of players trying to get better and expand their games," Kessler said. "We've had conversations before about this my first two years, even this year, and he knows that that can be an expansion and a part of my game."

Monday was Utah's second consecutive loss by double digits after falling by single digits in seven of the losses in the current streak. Chicago's entire starting five scored in double digits against the Jazz, led by Coby White's 26 points despite shooting just 2-for-10 from three himself.

Keyonte George and Markkanen both led Utah with 16 points as the Jazz struggled to find an offensive rhythm against a scrappy Chicago team that swiped 12 steals and scored 18 points off of 17 Utah turnovers.

Utah took a brief lead before halftime after trailing for most of the first two quarters, but Chicago took a 54-52 lead into the break and outscored the Jazz 57-44 in the second half to move to 29-39 on the season and into the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Jazz dropped to a league-worst 15-54 and will look to break the losing streak Wednesday against the team with the second-worst record in the league, the Washington Wizards, at 7 p.m. MDT at the Delta Center.

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