LAS VEGAS — Ace Bailey sat on the bench in street clothes, held out of the Utah Jazz’s first game at the Las Vegas Summer League due to right hip flexor soreness.
By the end of the night, Utah’s other first-round pick had also been ruled out.
There were a lot of positives for the Jazz on Friday — even in their first loss of the summer, a 111-106 defeat to the Charlotte Hornets.
Kyle Filipowski was the best player on the court, Cody Williams erupted in the fourth quarter, Walton Clayton Jr. continued to show more and more of an intriguing offensive game. Even with most who filled the Thomas and Mack Center disappointed they missed out on a matchup between two top-five picks, Jazz fans had reason for optimism.
But the story of the evening, unfortunately, was injuries.
With 2:22 left, Clayton limped off the court, grabbing at his right leg. He went back to the locker room, where the team quickly ruled him out for the rest of the night with a hamstring injury.
But he doesn’t think it’s too serious.
“It’s good — just a little tight,” Clayton said following the game.
When asked if he thought he’d continue to play in Vegas, he needed just one word: “Yeah.”
The Jazz training staff will ultimately decide that, but that’s at least some early good news for the point guard who keeps showing more and more as the summer progresses.
On Friday, he had 21 points, six rebounds and three assists against the Hornets, which included some eyebrow-raising plays in the paint.
His pump fake into a left-footed step-through floater in the second quarter drew oohs from the packed crowd. He also muscled a defender to create space for a step-back pull-up jumper.
It was advanced work from a rookie.
And, yes, the other team noticed, too.
“Anytime a team in this league — doesn’t matter if it’s the summer league or whatever — they full-court deny you, you’re doing something well,” Jazz summer league coach Chris Jones said.
Jones also praised Clayton’s work using ball screens to find shots, even off the ball.
“We want to get him some off-ball screens,” Jones said. “I thought he did a good job of flying around and making shots.”
That could become a norm for Clayton in the crowded youthful Utah backcourt. He said he’s comfortable playing both backcourt positions.
“I think that’s one of the reasons they brought me in here; just the versatility in those positions,” he said. “So wherever they need me, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
It’s also helped playing alongside a playmaking big like Filipowski.
The second-year Jazz big dominated on Friday, finishing with 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting (including 3-of-7 from 3-point range), six rebounds and five assists.
So what got into Filipowski on the offensive end?
“My team needed me to score a little bit more,” he said. “And so just just trying to read the game, understand what’s needed for me in this game.”
His ability to read the game stands out to Clayton, who has built some early chemistry with Filipowski. There were a few razzle-dazzle passes between the two — some led to some easy buckets; some didn’t, but all were fun.
“He does a pretty good job of just reading the defense,” Clayton said. “So whenever that big is dropping, he’s popping, knocking down the shots. Whenever they’re coming up too high, he goes to the rim.”
Throw in Williams’ fourth-quarter heater and it was a good night — loss and all — for the Jazz.
Except for the injuries.
Clayton doesn’t believe his hamstring is serious, but what about Bailey’s?
“To be honest, I’m not sure,” Jones said. “I’ll talk to our training staff today to see what they’re planning for him.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Source link
