Basketball | Markkanen sank threes to his heart’s content against his former team, but the Jazz lost again

Salt Lake City

The Utah Jazz Lauri Markkanen was in great shape against his former team, the Chicago Bulls, even though the Utah Jazz lost 107-114 on Monday night in Salt Lake City, early Tuesday morning Finnish time.

Markkanen collected 32 points and succeeded in no less than seven three-pointers.

He crossed the 30-point mark for the fifth time this season. The number of threes was just one short of his record in the 2017-2018 rookie season.

Markkanen started completely unstoppable, because already at three minutes he had sunk two threes and one two. 24 of his total catches came before the break. Five threes in one period eclipsed his record.

Markkanen had clearly put the fumbling of the last rounds of his throwing game in his mind. In two of the previous three games, he sank just four of 13 free throws – his worst percentage of the season. Now 12 out of 18 shots hit handsomely. Seven triplets were born in 11 attempts.

Markkanen grabbed nine rebounds.

Loss it was already the Fifth in a row for the Jazz. The pipe is the ugliest of the season, and it has dropped the comet team in the middle of the early season. You can blame it on the heavy travel-oriented match schedule, but only partially.

The Jazz are still one of the best offensive teams in the NBA, but unfortunately at the same time one of the worst defensive teams. The defense looks like this in front of counterattacks, and the rebounds under the own basket end up all too often in the opponent’s hands.

The team seems to miss their veteran playmaker in particular Mike Conley, 35, who injured his knee in the Jazz’s previous win the other week. Fortunately, the injury is not bad, but he is expected back in the next few weeks.

The Jazz will play their next five games at home in Salt Lake City.

The story is updated with Lauri Markkanen’s comments.