Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Collin Sexton scored 30 points, leading the Jazz in a close loss to the Warriors.
- Despite missing key players, Utah kept the game tight until the final minutes.
- Coach Hardy praised Sexton's energy and influence on the team's young players.
SAN FRANCISCO — Collin Sexton doesn't care about the record. He doesn't care about the injury report. He only cares if there's a game on the schedule.
Heck, Sexton once almost pulled off a double-digit comeback in college while playing 3-on-5; there were shades of that on Tuesday against Golden State.
Utah was without — *deep breath* — Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, Cody Williams and Johnny Juzang. Still, with just under six minutes remaining in the game, the Jazz were only down by a single point.
Those final minutes didn't end well for Utah, though, as the Warriors pulled away for a 114-103 win at Chase Center. The Jazz have now lost seven straight.
But Utah has Sexton to thank for even being that close. The 26-year-old guard led Utah with 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting and added four assists.
"Collin is one of my favorite players that I've ever been around," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "I tell Collin all the time, 'I love you, and you drive me crazy' — both can be true. His fire every day is something that I think we all should aspire to have."
And it's something he prides himself on, too.
Sexton isn't the prototypical NBA guard — at least not in this era. He's not the tallest (he's listed at 6-foot-3, but that probably is counting his hair) or the most skilled, but it'd be hard-pressed to find someone who cares more.
Case in point is how excited he got about earning a jump ball against a taller player in a game that was slipping away.
Sexton, if nothing else, keeps things fun.
It's a shame that he's never been in a playoff series, because it can only be imagined how many times he'd slap the floor on defense or how much he'd celebrate even the smallest of possessions.
"Honestly, at the end of the day, I go out and play each and every night like it's my last," Sexton said. "Whenever I step between those lines, I want to give it 110% — not for myself, but for my teammates. I want to be someone that everybody can say, I can count on him each and every night and know that I'm going to have your back."
That was obvious on Tuesday as he tried to lead Utah to an improbable win.
In a lot of ways, he's a perfect player to have in the locker with a bunch of young guards. If that effort and energy can rub off on Utah's youngsters at all, that's a win in the long run.
"He has the same personality and big smile every time you see him in the morning," Hardy said. "And it doesn't matter if it's a drill in practice, a shooting game after practice, or the actual games, his competitiveness is at 100 at all times. That's symbolic of who Collin is, and it's a great example that he's giving to all of our young players, to not take any of this for granted."
The lessons are still coming for those young players, which includes the end of Tuesday's game.
After cutting Golden State's lead to 100-99 with just under six minutes remaining, the Jazz were outscored 14-4 the rest of the way.
"The good thing for our team and for our young group is that we're starting to feel in multiple instances, that you can play a really good or a good enough 42-to-44 minutes to be in the game, and then at the end, everything has to be tight," Hardy said. "Your attention to detail has to be there, your physicality, the competitiveness on every possession, because you don't have time to make things up."
There were plenty of examples: Brice Sensabaugh got caught on a not-great screen, leading to a wide-open Moses Moody 3-pointer; and Golden State had seven offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, including some big ones by Gui Santos and Kyle Anderson that led directly to points.
The Jazz can't just point to a young team facing off against a veteran one becuase, well, the Warriors were pretty shorthanded themselves. Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga were all out for the Warriors.
"These lessons are good for our group," Hardy said. "And I'm glad that we're going through them together, because I continue to be optimistic about the group as a whole and the growth that we're showing, the competitiveness that we're showing, the connectivity that we're showing; but 48 minutes is a long time. And the sustained focus it takes to win is critical. I'm glad that our group's getting to feel that now."
And glad that he has Sexton to help guide the way.
"He's a wonderful kid, a great competitor, a great teammate," Hardy said. "We are lucky to have him as a part of our team."
