‘It’s relieving’: Jazz breakout of shooting slump to earn first win of season in Chicago

CHICAGO — (KSL.com) Collin Sexton felt a bit winded as he finished readying to leave the United Center.

It was nearly an hour after Utah’s first win of the season — a 135-126 win over the Chicago Bulls — and the Jazz guard was still recovering. To him, that just meant he played hard enough.

“This is how hard we have to play games in the NBA,” Sexton said. “I’ve been telling the young guys, it’s hard to win games in the NBA. It’s not easy. It’s very, very hard to win.”

If anything, they’ve learned that lesson over the last couple of weeks.

Jazz coach Will Hardy acknowledged that some losing streaks can feel pretty bleak. Utah’s 0-6 start to the season wasn’t the first time he’s been part of a team where it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or when it was hard to see things improving.

The Jazz came into Monday’s game in Chicago with the worst offense in the league, the worst net rating and had lost their last five games by a combined 110 points. Throw in injuries to key players, and, well, it was hard to see a win coming.

“Then, all of a sudden, you can get hot and things can turn,” the Utah Jazz coach said.

Things turned for Utah in the Windy City.

Keyonte George broke out with a career-tying 33 points and nine assists to lead the Jazz to their breakthrough win.

“I’m happy for the guys,” Hardy said. “They’ve battled. They’ve stayed together. Nobody’s complained. Starting a season 0-6 is not easy. I’m proud of them. … I thought tonight was a great representation of the team spirit that we want to have.”

George shook off what had been a rough start to the year to have one of his best games in a Jazz uniform. He was in control from the beginning, making high-level reads to get the Utah offense going. It helped, too, that he (and the team) broke out of a season-long cold spell.

It turns out basketball is a little easier when some shots actually go in. The Jazz shot 54% from the field and 45% from 3-point range. The squad that entered the night as the worst shooting team in the NBA suddenly caught fire.

George was 6-of-12 from deep, Collin Sexton was 4-of-6, and John Collins hit a pair of 3s, as well.

“Your brain’s weird; you can start to really doubt yourself, and it creeps in, and it starts to snowball, and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh. Like, we’re never gonna make a shot,'” Hardy said.

But he thinks it was less about the Jazz finally just making shots and more about how the team ran offense. That started with Utah coaches choosing to clean stuff up. Hardy said he and his staff put some sets and reads on the shelf to help the team simplify some things.

That resulted in a season-high 35 assists to a season-low 12 turnovers.

“Tonight was just a good representation of trusting the next guy to make the play. I felt like there were very few possessions tonight where we overdribbled,” Hardy said. “That has been kind of our — not kind of, that has been a massive issue the first six games of the year. So tonight it was just move the ball and pass early, and the guys did a great job.”

That allowed everyone to feel involved in the game, so when they had the chance to shoot, they already felt like they were in rhythm.

“The ball has energy,” said George. “I like to say the basketball Gods gonna bless us if we continue to share the ball and respect the game. So that’s what we did tonight. We respected the game and moved the ball. Everybody had their moments tonight.”

Collins finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds and had a highlight-reel dunk where he slammed it in over Chicago’s Coby White. Sexton had 24 points and five assists, Walker Kessler added 12 points and 16 assists and Cody Williams had a career-high 11 points.

Utah had five players reach double figures, including three that scored over 20. George, Collins, Sexton and Williams all had season-highs to help the Jazz get the monkey off their collective backs.

Now, the Jazz feel they have something to build on.

“I feel like sometimes our minds get to racing ‘When can we win? When can we win’ or this and that, but sometimes you just need to slow down, and, like we did tonight, stay together. And I feel like that just give us a little bit more credence to say, ‘Oh yeah, what we are doing is working.'” Collins said.

For one night at least, the winds changed on the Jazz.

“It’s relieving to get a win and be able to put that narrative to bed,” Hardy said. “Now we move on to the next one.”