Lauri Markkanen

HOUSTON — Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high 49 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night (Friday, ...

The Rockets used an 11-4 run, with 3s from Green and Jabari Smith Jr., to cut the lead to 70-67 with about nine minutes left in the third quarter. Porter and Jae'Sean Tate made consecutive 3s to cap that run and put Houston on top. Utah had a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter after a 3-pointer by Ochai Agbaji. Houston took the lead late in the third quarter, but Utah ended that quarter on a 10-0 run to go on top for good. Players on the Utah bench stood and cheered as he hit both of them and they were disappointed when a last 3-point attempt that would have given him 50 points was off the mark. He made six 3-pointers and all 13 of his free throws Thursday night to eclipse his previous best games.

“I've said it over and over again this year, it's just my teammates, the coaching staff, they put me in the right spots to succeed,” Markkanen said after the ...

The [Celtics](https://www.eurohoops.net/basket/boston-celtics/?lang=en&lang=en)‘ superstar posted a triple-double of the 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists and his team took a 124 – 95 blowout victory. [Mavs](https://www.eurohoops.net/basket/dallas-mavericks/?lang=en&lang=en) finished with 34-90 from the field. “My teammates did a great job delivering me the ball and it was just finishing my shots.” [Clippers](https://www.eurohoops.net/basket/los-angeles-clippers/?lang=en&lang=en). The Finnish forward had 15-27 shots, including 6-15 3-pointers, and made all of his 13 free-throw attempts en route to his new scoring record. [Utah Jazz](https://www.eurohoops.net/basket/utah-jazz/?lang=en&lang=en) defeated the [Houston Rockets](https://www.eurohoops.net/basket/houston-rockets/?lang=en&lang=en) 131 – 114 on the road.

Markkanen scored 18 points in the first quarter to help the Utah Jazz get out to an early lead, and neither he nor the team ever looked back. He finished with a ...

[Cleveland Cavaliers](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/CLE/cleveland-cavaliers/) last summer, Markkanen was something of an afterthought in the deal. He also became the 34th different player to score at least 40 points this season, and the 18th different player to do it since Christmas [in what has been an incredible league-wide scoring binge](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/why-nba-is-seeing-unprecedented-scoring-boom-as-giannis-luka-donovan-mitchell-more-post-eye-popping-totals/). He's finding a way to get to the free throw line a lot because of that physicality. Having apparently learned his lesson, he made sure not to leave anything to chance on Thursday night against the [Houston Rockets](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/HOU/houston-rockets/). "Lauri's done such a good job of continuing to work on different ways he can impact the game offensively," Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. He finished with a career-high 49 points and eight rebounds on 15 of 27 from the field as the Jazz snapped a five-game losing streak with a 131-114 win over the Rockets.

Lauri Markkanen continued his star turn this season, pacing the Jazz in points since 1990. How did he do it? We zoom in, and look at what it means for the ...

Giving as many players as possible good developmental opportunities is a logical goal given the bounds of our knowledge. Obviously, the Rockets are a bad defensive team, but there are only a handful of players in the league where you can’t say Markkanen has an obvious physical advantage in one way or another. Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes may have taken a step back, as defenses stop respecting his 3-point shot. That high pick-and-roll with Mike Conley is just causing teams fits, because Markkanen can become either a roller or a screener — and they don’t have the personnel to guard both options at once. Despite Jazz front office worries to the contrary, I promise and assure you that during his tenure as Grizzlies assistant GM, he was not the source for Green is one of the league’s least efficient scorers — not quite 2023 Russell Westbrook bad, but close — while still getting nearly as many turnovers as assists. It’s all from the flow of the offense — catching spot ups, catching the ball as a screener, attacking in transition, or getting offensive rebounds. I think he would very much entertain staying with the Jazz even once that contract is done — he likes it here, and is raising a young family and appreciates that aspect of Salt Lake City living. Obviously, there’s a fine line there — you don’t want to neuter him like the Bulls did. I think it’s worth taking a step back and appreciating what this means for the Jazz. And to me, what was fun about Markkanen’s performance is that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Heck, even Malone himself didn’t score that many in the final 6 years of his career.