Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- The Jazz suffered a 129-93 defeat against the Nuggets, with Jokic excelling.
- Coach Hardy praised the team's effort despite their poor 3-point shooting performance.
- Hardy criticized the Grizzlies' unexpected firing of coach Taylor Jenkins, calling it baffling.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz players walked into Ball Arena on Friday wearing or holding up Oscar Tshiebwe for G League MVP shirts.
Tshiebwe certainly has a case.
The brighten-up-the-room center is averaging 17.1 points and a league-leading 19.0 rebounds during the G League regular season, helping the Salt Lake City Stars to the third seed in the Western Conference.
On Friday, though, he was up against a three-time (and maybe soon to be four-time?) NBA MVP. With Walker Kessler out with illness, Tshiebwe got the start against Nikola Jokic.
The result? Jokic had 27 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists as the Denver Nuggets routed the Jazz 129-93.
So, it was a pretty typical Jokic night. Heck, he even hit a casual one-handed heave from past half-court to beat the second-half buzzer.
The lopsided loss wasn't a Tshiebwe problem, though; it was really an overall talent issue.
Even when Lauri Markkanen, John Collins and Kessler are in the lineup, the Jazz don't really have the guys to match up against the best in the league. Without them? A small deficit can turn into a rout rather quickly.
Throw in the second night of a back-to-back and a historically bad 3-point shooting night, and that's how a 36-point loss happens.
"We went 7-for-40 from 3," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "If you shoot 17% from 3 in this league, that's going to be a hard night."
But Hardy liked the shots the team generated and how Utah won the possession battle — even though his team lost by nearly 40 points.
Earlier this week, he lit into his team for essentially not taking the game seriously. He didn't see that on Friday; it was just a loss that got out of hand due to some shooting variance.
"I thought we generated a bunch of good looks and they didn't go," he said. "I'm not hiding from the fact that we just got our butts kicked, but it's not because the team didn't compete and play hard. I think when you don't make any shots and you have an unset defense for the whole game, it's hard against a team like that."
It's all just part of a development season. The team is going to put players in positions they aren't quite ready for and see what they can handle.
"We're focused on trying to further our own understanding of our young players right now, what they're capable of, and trying to push those limits a little bit," Hardy said.
Sometimes, a 36-point loss is the result.
Hardy's thoughts on Taylor Jenkins firing
On Friday, the Memphis Grizzlies stunned the league by dismissing head coach Taylor Jenkins just a few weeks before the playoffs. The Grizzlies are 44-29 and tied for the fourth-best record in the Western Conference.
Hardy, who became friends with Jenkins when they were both with the San Antonio organization, shared his thoughts on the move ahead of Friday's game.
"I mean, I get it," he said sarcastically. "If you don't like 50-win seasons on your team, getting better every year, and obvious development of your young players and navigating tough moments with your group, then sure I get why Taylor was fired.
"But it's a weird business, and I think there's weird decisions made all the time," he added. "If you ask any coach in the NBA, Taylor is one of the coaches that we all respect; he does a hell of a job. His team's always hard to play against."
Hardy said that when it was sent to him, he had to zoom in on the social media handle to make sure it wasn't a fake account because he didn't understand why Memphis would do that.
"There's decisions that are made sometimes in this league that make no sense to those of us that know what's going on, and this is one of them," he said. "Taylor's a hell of a coach, and I have no doubt that he has a very bright future in whatever happens for him next."
