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CHARLOTTE – A handful of Utah Jazz fans gathered around the tunnel leading to the team’s locker room to give Talen Horton-Tucker a hero’s welcome.
“THT! THT! THT!” The group yelled as the oft-injured guard made his way to the cave. On Saturday, Horton-Tucker found the flowers in Charlotte.
In a game where Laurie Markkan had his worst shooting night of the season – Horton-Tucker put the Jazz on his back and left the Hornets chasing and scratching their heads in the process.
Remember the player who averaged as much as the team’s starting point guard in the first six games? On Saturday in Charlotte, he inexplicably looked like one of the best point guards in the league.
Horton-Tucker had 37 points, 10 rebounds and eight rebounds — just two boards shy of breaking Utah’s 15-year regular-season triple-double drought (and it was retaken after the game, so it looked more live) — to lead the Jazz to 119 over the Charlotte Hornets. -111 to lead the win.
Sometimes the stat lines can be deceiving; This was not the case. Horton-Tucker was as dominant as the numbers suggest. Horton-Tucker was 14-for-24 from the field and showed off his full bag of tricks.
Dwarf to Hammer Quick Crosses? He had that. Spinning moves that lead to acrobatic poses? That too. Aggressive drives that open up teammates for looks on the perimeter and lobs? Those were plentiful.
When he took a deep step-back 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, everyone in the Spectrum Center expected the ball to go in — and sure enough, it did.
Then Will Hardy buried the lead in the post office.
He talked about how difficult it is for teams in the NBA to hold on to leaders – led by Horton-Tucker’s dynamic third quarter, the Jazz jumped out to a 23-point lead – and how Utah got contributions off the board (Walker Kessler had 17 points and 16 rebounds, and Kelly Olynyk had 7- They finished with 17 points on -9 shooting).
Then he finally landed on Horton-Tucker.
“Obviously the story of the game is Talen Horton-Tucker,” he said. “I’ve been incredibly tough on Tallen. I’ve been through it all season. That’s because I believe in him. His talent, his ability — he’s still young, he’s only 22 — and he’s got some real physical gifts that showed tonight. … He’s the best in attacking, getting to the goal and finding his teammates. He made the play.… It was amazing.
And he couldn’t have picked a better night to be amazing. Markkanen was just 3-for-22 from the field. Those nights happen – not much happened in the future for the star. Before Saturday, he had just six games all season where he shot under 40%, and his previous worst shooting night was 3-for-14.
The Jazz are a team that often goes with Markkanen; Horton-Tucker proved that wasn’t the case against the Hornets.
“Playing here and playing with the coach, knowing what they want for me, they want me to go up the hill and get other people involved and sometimes I score myself,” he said. “I feel like I try to do that every game. … Tonight, I’ve got to do it at a higher clip.”
Hardy said the big show was the culmination of a season’s worth of work. There were times this season when Horton-Tucker wasn’t in the rotation, didn’t get significant minutes, and was still eager to improve.
All this was paid on Saturday.
“All the hard work showed tonight. That’s no small thing. He’s dug in this season and couldn’t be happier for him,” Hardy said. “We’re very proud and he’s part of our program. The way he’s gone this season, from a work standpoint, from a patient standpoint, competing every day and controlling what you can control, that’s what we want to be about. He embodies that.”
It’s the second straight big game for Horton-Tucker, who had 23 points and eight assists against the Magic (he also had a strong second half in Dallas). And he believes he has many more games in him.
“I’m not trying to be cocky, I feel like I can do more,” Horton-Tucker said. “It’s not the only time I’ve been able to do this.”
The Jazz, who are 33-35 on the season, moved back into a playoff spot with the win. A few more games from Horton-Tucker like Saturday and maybe — just maybe — they can stay there.
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