In Walker Kessler’s return, Lauri Markkanen scores 34 as Jazz beat Knicks with torrent of 3s

The Utah Jazz put on a 3-point clinic Saturday at the Delta Center in their 121-106 win over the New York Knicks.
The team shot 55.9% from deep, with Lauri Markkanen hitting 5 of 8 from long range en route to a 34-point performance. Markkanen wasn’t the only one that felt like he was shooting into an ocean, though. John Collins hit 2 of 3 from 3-point land, Collin Sexton went 6 of 8 from distance and Johnny Juzang made good on 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.
It would be easy to say that any team shooting like that is going to be hard to beat. It would be easy to chalk this game up to a great shooting night and leave it there, but one of the most important components of the Jazz being able to succeed from long range is Walker Kessler.
The Jazz are clearly better when they have Kessler on the court. He’s the team’s most dominant rim protector, he’s a heavy part of the team’s pick-and-roll game and he’s great at securing rebounds and sprinting the length of the court, keeping the defense honest.
But he’s also a huge factor in the Jazz being able to generate open looks from 3. That’s something they’ve been missing in the six games Kessler has missed because of hip bursitis.
Generating an open look by screening multiple guys or pulling in weakside help defense because he’s such a lob threat does not show up on a box score. Unless Kessler gets an assist on one of these plays, the only real-time recognition he gets for doing a ton of work to get his teammates open is a quick dap of thanks or a nod of approval, but that doesn’t matter to him.
“I feel good when we score, regardless of whose scores,” Kessler said. “How can you not?”
Take a look at just four examples I pulled from tonight’s game. Some of these are missed 3-point attempts, but it really doesn’t matter. Getting open looks like this is half the battle in the NBA.
In the first clip, Karl-Anthony Towns either overreacts to Collins posting up or to Kessler looking like he’s headed inside. With Towns out of the play, Kessler just has to set a flare screen for Sexton to have a wide open look from the corner.
This is the first play of the game! This sets the tone for what guys can expect from Kessler, and Sexton would go on to hit six of his next seven 3-point attempts.
In the second clip, not only do the Jazz have numbers — with Towns lagging in the backcourt — but Kessler draws three of the four defenders when Collins sends an entry pass his way, and Kessler immediately looks for the open man.
In the third clip, Kessler has just finished sprinting for a transition defense possession and has to turn around to immediately sprint the other way.
The thing is, he’s fast and he runs hard and he pulls so much of the defense with him. The Knicks are so worried about him getting an easy inside bucket that they are late to rotate outside.
In the final clip, Kessler basically screens two Knicks and creates enough distance for Juzang to get the shot off. It’s hard enough screening one guy in the NBA, but taking two players off a shooter is really impressive.
But Kessler doesn’t get the respect as a lob threat unless the Jazz try to get him the ball, so it’s a bit of a game within the game for Jazz head coach Will Hardy. He wants to get Kessler early looks down low so that he can basically trick the defense into sending help.
“If you don’t throw a couple of them, that weak side stops cheating as much,” Hardy said. “When you get a few, now they’re really over helping, and now the corner is even more open, so Walker is a really impactful player for us. It’s not just about physical stats.”
On Saturday Kessler finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and two assists and was a game-high plus-34 in plus-minus. Part of the reason for his extremely high plus-minus was how much he helped make everyone else’s lives easier.