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LOS ANGELES — Kenneth Lofton Jr. was asked earlier this week if he thought his passing was an underrated part of his game.
"I mean, it could be," he said. "I feel like my whole game is underrated."
Friday's game showed he may have a point. Lofton had 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the Jazz's 110-109 win over the Clippers in Los Angeles.
He led the Jazz in scoring, in assists and was one rebound shy of having the team high for rebounds. So it's not much of a surprise that he scored or assisted on Utah's final 8 points as it held off the Clippers.
Lofton is a unique player; he's 6-foot-7 and 275 pounds with feather-light feet. He can pound in the post, deliver a lookaway pocket pass, and has pretty good ball skills, too (he stole the ball from Brandon Boston Jr. to end the game and seal the Jazz victory).
And at 21 years old, he's still got plenty of time to develop.
"I play any type of basketball — screening and passing, pretty much everything," Lofton said.
He has quickly helped make the end of a forgettable season quite fun. A night after Utah snapped its 13-game losing streak, Lofton helped the team snap a 13-game road skid, and his 20-point first half helped the team climb out of an early 12-point hole.
The Jazz would do well to not win a third in a row to end the season, though.
If the Jazz win Sunday, they could potentially fall back a full spot in the draft. That's not a good reward for a fan base that was asked to endure a 3-24 stretch after the trade deadline. Utah plays at Golden State to finish the season.
The Clippers, however, were not. Los Angeles rolled out Paul George and James Harden in the starting lineup, but neither played after the first quarter. Not so coincidentally, that's when the Jazz got back in the game.
Utah, meanwhile, was without Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton — so there wasn't much star power in the final three quarters from either team.
Lofton did his best to make up for it.
"He's got savvy," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "I would say 90% of the plays, whatever he does, whether it works or it doesn't, in my head, I'm usually thinking: 'That made sense.' Kenny just seems to make sense when he plays. He passes when he should pass, shoots when he should shoot."
And due to his unique size, everything seems more impressive when he does it. He can take over point duties to give a guard a break, and surprise defenders with his vision. He knows where the ball should be going on the court.
"Kenny had a hell of a game. He got an opportunity and he took it and ran with it," said Keyonte George, who had 14 points and hit a massive 3-pointer near the end of the game (a shot that, yes, was assisted by Lofton).
Can his 3-point percentage (he was 0-for-5 on Friday) improve enough to become a threat from the perimeter? Can he survive defensively as a tweener? The answers to those questions will determine his long-term future in the league.
The Jazz signed Lofton to a three-year, non-guaranteed deal last month. If nothing else, he has given the franchise plenty to think about when it comes time to decide whether or not that should be guaranteed next season.
