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SALT LAKE CITY — Will Hardy had to practice some restraint.
The Utah Jazz coach hopped up and nearly found himself walking on the court to celebrate after Collin Sexton forced an eight-second violation.
Even with that, Hardy's excitement didn't come close to matching Sexton's. After the Jazz guard had poked the ball away from Jalen Brunson to cause the turnover, he jumped up high, flexed both arms, and amped up the crowd — all while his eyes bulged from his head.
"Anytime Collin gets really hyped up, I'm excited to death," Hardy said. "His intensity, his passion, his want-to-win, his energy is infectious. I almost ran on the court and gave him a high-five I was so hyped up."
That's Sexton in a nutshell. His animated play can inspire a team and electrify a crowd, and it was far from a one-play instance Wednesday. Sexton had 26 points and seven assists to go along with his pesky defense in Utah's 117-113 win over the New York Knicks.
"Once I got the eight second, you can tell like momentum started swinging our way," Sexton said. "So that's what I can bring to the game. I can just pick up no matter what and just try to disrupt as much as possible, and then eat as much clock off so I can help my teammates, as well."
The momentum statement isn't exactly true. The Jazz actually struggled to close out the second half and saw their 9-point lead slowly get wiped away before halftime, but his further point was true.
He brought a needed spark to a team that was already without Jordan Clarkson and John Collins, and lost Keyonte George to an ankle injury in the first quarter.
"The crowd feeds off of him," Hardy said. "Collin's a very endearing person. How hard he works, how hard he plays, and so those plays are always going to be ones that our team will go nuts about."
They also went nuts for Sexton's 3-point play with under three minutes remaining in the game, and the foul he drew that led to two free throws with 1:55 left. And plenty more during Sexton's 10-of-18 performance.
"Collin is a really good scorer, and he's dynamic when he gets the ball in space," Hardy said. "He's a really good driver, he's physical, he is low. … He can put so much pressure on a defense one-on-one. So we're trying to do some things where he's getting the ball on the second side of the action when the defense's loosened up some, and he did a great job of that tonight."
Due to that effort, the Jazz could celebrate after the game, too — even if it didn't quite get up to levels of the eight-second call.
"It's a great feeling just because he knows what I'm capable of," Sexton said of Hardy's reaction. "Every free throw, he's saying, 'pick up, pick up, pick up,' and I know that's what I can bring to the team and be that guy every night. I might be missing shots, turning the ball over, but I know on the defensive end, I can give it my all each and every night."
