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SALT LAKE CITY — Lauri Markkanen is well aware of the current state of the Utah Jazz.
He knows a playoff berth is, at this point, nothing but a fool's hope; something that was made that much more clear on Monday in Minnesota's 114-104 win over the Jazz.
Utah has gone young — sacrificing this season's success to set the stage for what is to come in the future. So why dutifully work to get back to form after an injury?
"As a team and as an individual, I need to work on some things," Markkanen said. "I need to get better and, at the same time, I need to build chemistry with the young guys and really get that on-court experience against the other teams, not just practice."
He added that he thinks the team can "finish up this year strong" and set a standard for what is to come.
Monday, in his first game since suffering a thigh injury against Miami this month, was a chance to start to do just that.
The Jazz led by as many as 16 points and were within 4 points with under three minutes remaining. If nothing else, Utah looked much more competitive against the Timberwolves than they had 48 hours earlier.
Utah coach Will Hardy said that with the Jazz giving more and more minutes to rookies Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh this is a time the Jazz need Markkanen's leadership. That includes setting the tone for the team in terms of competitiveness, and also just making everyone's life a little easier.
The opposing team's top defender will likely always find Markkanen, which clears up some space for everyone else.
"I expect his demeanor to lead the rest of the team in terms of his seriousness and his competitiveness," Hardy said. "That's what's most important to me from Lauri is that stepping back into the role that he's had with us pretty much since he got here."
Markkanen made his first shot of the game, and finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes.
In the end, though, a 25-point second half from Anthony Edwards — which included potentially the dunk of the year — was too much to overcome.
"I thought he played pretty physical around the basket," Hardy said. "He didn't settle for a ton of 3s. I thought he used his size and physicality pretty well tonight. Looked like he had a little bit of a burst, which was nice."
That included a quick drive that finished with a skying dunk.
"He had that first step we haven't seen in a little while," Hardy said.
Some rust showed up for Markkanen, however; he finished with six of Utah's 17 turnovers, and those giveaways were one of the main reasons his return didn't also come with a victory.
"We put ourselves in a position to win the game," Hardy said. "You're going into the fourth quarter, tie game at home, it's all you can ask for. Turnovers is really the story."
The Jazz had six turnovers in the final quarter as Minnesota pulled away.
"Obviously, there was stuff I can do better once the game slows down for me again," Markkanen said. "I was rushing things and turnovers cost us the game tonight — so I'll take the blame for that. But it's fun to be back there with my teammates, and I think we got some stuff down. I think we can get better."
