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SALT LAKE CITY — Walker Kessler was a man of few words after the Utah Jazz's 127-124 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Thursday.
"It's not fun to lose," the second-year Jazz center said. "Frustrated, but I'm trying to move forward from it. Take what coach is telling us and try to apply it."
Kessler played just 14 minutes in the game, but he was mighty effective in that time. He had 8 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and didn't miss a shot. The Jazz won those minutes by 4 points, too.
Utah's defensive rating in the game neared 130 for the game, but it was around 106 with Kessler on the floor.
Kessler, though, played just two seconds in the final quarter (he was put in for a late free throw as a rebounder) and watched Utah falter down the stretch from the bench.
It was the same thing for Kris Dunn, who changed the game with his defense on Tyrese Maxey in the third quarter — like, really changed the game.
Dunn had one of the most impressive stretches of individual defense you will ever see. Maxey had scored 32 points in the first half, but was visibly frustrated in the third as Dunn hounded him at every step. He ended up with 51 points.
"Kris did have a very good second half, defensively," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "I give him a lot of credit for the way that he really cranked up the gas to start the second half from a defensive standpoint."
So why didn't Kessler or Dunn play down the stretch?
Hardy's explanation was simple:
"We played man-to-man to start the half," he said. 'Once we went to the box-and-one, we felt like Simone (Fontecchio) was doing a good job on Maxey. The way they were running their offense, they sort of went away from him. So we were going to stay in that defense.
"When Walker's in, we don't play a ton of box-and-one because of how much ground you have to cover. John (Collins) was also having some good moments on the offensive end spacing them out. ... At the end, just based on the coverage we were in, we felt like keeping those guys on the bench made the most sense."
So there it is; Hardy trusted a defensive scheme over individual talent. Could there be other reasons (cough — trade deadline — cough)? Sure.
Last season, Utah played Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley heavy minutes before moving them last season. The same thing may be happening with the deadline now less than a week away.
When asked about their minutes, both Kessler and Dunn took the diplomatic approach.
"It just sucks to lose in general," Kessler said.
Added Dunn: "I just trust what the coaches are doing; I don't really look too deep into it. A couple of months ago, I wasn't even playing, so anything — I'm blessed to just be out there competing with these guys each and every night."
