It was an ugly night for the Jazz — and the court — in 40-point loss in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — If the fluorescent green court didn't make you avert your eyes, the game itself should have.

One thing was certain after Friday: The Utah Jazz will not be winning the NBA Cup this season (shocker, we know).

Maybe it was the bright court. Maybe it was the end of a five-game road trip. Maybe it was just the fact the Wolves are that much better than the Jazz (hint: it was probably that one).

Whatever the case, Minnesota smashed Utah 137-97 in a game that didn't even feel that close.

Utah got down by 21 points within the first seven minutes of the game, and that was all she wrote. All that was left to do was see how much Minnesota would win by in the end.

Anthony Edwards had 37 points in 26 minutes, and Jaden McDaniels had 22 points and seven rebounds in the Wolves' win.

Heck, things got so out of hand that even old friend Joe Ingles got in the game for the Wolves — much to the joy of the Minnesota fans (and also the few Jazz fans in attendance in Minneapolis). Ingles had played just seven minutes all season before Friday.

The Jazz might not be mathematically eliminated from the NBA Cup yet, but with an 0-2 record and a -62 point differential in Cup games, it's safe to say Vegas won't be happening this season.

"They got to their spots — pretty much anything that they wanted," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "We didn't."

So, did anything go well for the Jazz?

Ace Bailey had his first double-digit game of his career, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds, and Keyonte George had 18 points — and for a long stretch was genuinely Utah's only offense.

And ... umm, Isaiah Collier played for the first time this season? That's something. He was inserted into the starting lineup to try and give Utah an extra ball handler. He had 10 points, four turnovers, and was a team-worst plus/minus of -36; Hardy, though, made it clear he was far from the reason things got out of hand.

"Stuff like that happens," Collier said. "So, I mean, the good thing is that we got them on Monday. I mean, quick turnaround. … I think the last couple minutes helped me to just going into the next game. So, I mean, for me, it's just, you know, getting my feet back wet — I'll be ready,"

Anything else of note for Utah?

Lauri Markkanen had a poster dunk. He also made a great joke about the hard-on-they-eyes court at shootaround when he said that an "all yellow one would be better," referring to Utah's misguided rebrand of old.

On second thought, it wasn't a joke — Markkanen was one of the few people who really did enjoy the yellow. He even admitted to having a framed yellow jersey in his home.

Elijah Harkless drew an offensive foul? (Becuase, of course, he did.)

Hardy nearly blew a gasket after a pretty horrific no-call on Rudy Gobert when he threw Jusuf Nurkic to the ground? That was entertaining.

Yeah, we're scraping at the bottom of the barrel here.

The good news: The bright lime court may have made it hard for fans to see the actual basketball.

But did that actually have any impact?

"I don't mean this in a bad way, I don't really notice it much in the game," Hardy said before the game. "I think when we walk into shootaround, it's very obvious. I think when we first walk out to the court, it's very obvious. But when the game gets going, I don't know, my brain is very much somewhere else. … Minnesota is pushing it, though, with the green they're gonna test my ability to focus tonight."

Maybe it tested the Jazz's, too.

But, more likely, this is just who they are.

Though that didn't stop the court from catching a stray from Hardy postgame when he was asked how he wants his team to use minutes in a blowout.

"They are NBA minutes," he said. "I think it's an honor to play in the NBA. It's an honor to wear an NBA jersey. It's an honor to step on an NBA court — no matter how ugly that court is."

The crazy thing is, Utah's first six minutes were even uglier.

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