The Triple Team: Can Jazz make Lauri Markkanen a No. 1 option in the 4th?

Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington pressures Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson during an NBA basketball game Monday, March 25, 2024, in Salt Lake City.

This is the most discouraging thing about Markkanen’s development: he simply hasn’t shown the desire to be the No. 1 guy. The offensive stats are awesome — remember, Rick Carlisle compared him to Dirk Nowitzki and wasn’t crazy — but Nowitzki had the unabashed belief in himself to take the shots at end of games. Markkanen can just kind of coast — he spent somewhere around 75% of his 4th-quarter possessions just spacing in the corner.

Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington pressures Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson during an NBA basketball game Monday, March 25, 2024, in Salt Lake City.As you may know, NBA scoring is down overall in the last few months. Or perhaps you don’t know, because you follow the Jazz, the worst defense in the league. Regardless, it’s true: we’re seeing much lower scoring totals than we did in the beginning of the year.

Take this drive from Luka Doncic — I think refs earlier blow their whistle on this one to send Doncic to the line, but I think no-call is better.To be sure, this also impacts the Jazz: they have driving guards who tend to try to draw fouls, like Collin Sexton, Keyonte George, and Jordan Clarkson. Those players, especially George, will need to work on finding a midrange game that they can rely on to generate points without generating contact.

Gambling also is impacting the lives of coaches. Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said gamblers got his telephone number to send him messages about his home and his kids.

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