150-95.
Since 1979, when the franchise first moved to Utah, the Jazz have played 3,974 games. And in none of those games have they ever lost by more than 50 points. Until Saturday.
Then, against the Charlotte Hornets (owners of a 14-25 record and 12th place in the Eastern Conference), the Jazz threw out an all-time stinker of a game, going down a whopping 31 points after the first quarter and continuing to lose ground for the rest of the game before losing by 55 in total.
“Well, if you want a picture of what everything going wrong looks like, that’s what it looks like,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said.
While the 55-point margin makes it the worst loss since the team moved to Utah, the New Orleans Jazz lost by 56 against Milwaukee in their final season. The previous record for a Utah Jazz loss was 50, something that had happened twice before.
The numbers are eye-popping. The first half narrowly avoided becoming the worst in franchise history, when an 8-0 run in the Jazz’s favor to end the half sent them into the locker room down 39 at the break, not 47. The team couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn from distance or inside, shooting just 40% from the field and 22% from deep; meanwhile, the Hornets seemed to get any shot they wanted.
Second-year player Cody Williams, who had been playing with more force recently, finished with a plus-minus of -60 — the worst plus-minus recorded by an NBA player since the stat has been tracked.
The Jazz were out-rebounded to an incredible degree: The Hornets had more offensive rebounds (21) on their own shot misses than the Jazz had defensive rebounds (20).
“They were just giving more effort than we did,” center Kyle Filipowski said of the rebounding differential.
Jazz star Lauri Markkanen sat on the bench for the game on a mandated rest day, while Jusuf Nurkic (left MTP sprain) and Ace Bailey (hip flexor strain) also were scratches. As a result, four of the five starters were 22 or younger.
“The (youth) have a long way to go, and it keeps everybody hungry. There’s levels to this league,” Hardy said. “I’m sure they’ll have a different view of our veteran players and what they bring to the game every night and what it does for their lives when they play.”
The performance caused some interesting reactions from the team’s brain trust. Hardy leaned against the scorer’s table, largely silent, with his arms folded for most of the proceedings.
“I make it a point to always stand because I’m never going to be the person that’s going to sit and hide while we’re getting our heads kicked in,” Hardy explained. “My first responsibility is for them to know that I’m with them. That I’m not another critic, I’m not another person chirping from the crowd, and I’m not compounding what is already a bad feeling.”
Meanwhile, CEO Danny Ainge moved down from his usual seat to sit next to team owner Ryan Smith for most of the fourth quarter. Members of the team’s front office met after the game in a waiting area outside of the locker room well after the final buzzer.
In that locker room, veterans and youth alike were largely quiet after the game.
“Pride has to kick in,” Love said. “We have to make sure that we look at ourselves in the mirror and check ourselves and just move on.”
Brice Sensabaugh, who led the team with 26 points, agreed.
“We’ve just got to stay together as a team, no matter how hard it gets,” he said. “The 15 people in this locker room, plus the coaches, we got to stay together. If we start turning on each other, it’s only gonna get worse.”
