Lauri Markkanen's play in win over Lakers highlights latest growth for star forward

SALT LAKE CITY — What might have been Lauri Markkanen's best move of the night ended in a turnover.

Late in the first half of Utah's 132-125 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Markkanen snagged a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the court. As he neared halfcourt, he wrapped the ball around his back and blew past Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell.

That was different.

"There were a couple of plays in transition tonight with Lauri dribbling that we haven't really seen much of where he takes off and leads the break and uses his force to play down the hill," Jazz coach Will Hardy said.

Markkanen had an open 3-point look after his ahh-inducing behind-the-back dribble, but opted to try a quick give-and-go. It nearly worked, but the Lakers were able to tap the pass out of bounds.

A word of advice to Markkanen: The next time you land a move like that, please take the shot (though, we concede, the give-and-go dunk would have also been pretty great).

"I've been seeing more opportunities to do that," Markkanen said of his transition play. "I think teammates are seeing it too. The whole defense collapses once I push it, so it's gonna be a good look for the other guys, as well. So I think it's a good tool to use."

Saturday was a perfect example of that; Markkanen went 0-for-2 when he pushed the ball to score himself. But four of his five assists against the Lakers came in transition.

One of Markkanen's main goals this summer was to tighten up his handle to be able to navigate the busy hands and tight quarters of defenses. That would add to his transition game and help him on his way to being able to take over a possession himself, which is something he did playing with Finland over the summer.

"It kind of showed me that I'm able to do it," Markkanen said.

The next step was figuring out where he could do it in the NBA game; he's starting to do just that.

Markkanen has spent hours going over film with coaches to recognize those opportunities. He's averaging a career-high 2.5 offensive rebounds and a career-high offensive rebound percentage.

He's quickly proving that a Markkanen-led Jazz can be pretty devastating; and that aggressiveness is helping in half-court situations, too.

On Saturday, Markkanen went 3-of-4 on isolation drives to the hoop, the next step for the ever-improving Jazz star. It will also give the Jazz another look as they continue their climb up the Western Conference standings.

"I think the handle has gotten a little bit better," Markkanen said. "I work on it every day, and so that obviously helps. But I think it's mostly just seeing the opportunities and learning from film and of creating the contact and stuff like that."

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