Talen Horton-Tucker falls out of Utah Jazz rotation
SAN ANTONIO — There were quite a few notable plays and some impressive performances from the Utah Jazz’s Tuesday night win in San Antonio, but there was also something of note that did not happen.
Talen Horton-Tucker, in his first game available after missing two due to a sore left foot, was the only player who did not play for the Jazz. It was the first time this season that Horton-Tucker recorded a DNP.
Though Jazz head coach Will Hardy told the Deseret News that it was a matter of how the team had been playing recently, it seems that Horton-Tucker might be on the outside of the Jazz’s rotation for the foreseeable future.
“There’s only so many people that can play in the game,” Hardy said. “Kris (Dunn) and Collin (Sexton) have been in a good groove. Talen has played well. It’s nothing that he’s done wrong, but he is coming off an injury and we had won two games in a row.
“It didn’t feel right to the team to disrupt that rhythm. I think it would have been the same if it had been somebody else.”
Related
It’s a fair explanation, especially considering that the Jazz have now won three consecutive games for the first time this season.
The thing is, there was somebody else. There was another guard who returned from injury on Tuesday and who was inserted into the rotation without hesitation.
Rookie Keyonte George had missed six straight games because of a left foot injury and he played 24 minutes off the bench for the Jazz. Additionally, in garbage time, the Jazz deployed rookie Brice Sensabaugh rather than give Horton-Tucker the minutes.
There were a lot of questions heading into this season about the Jazz’s guard rotation and when the season began, Horton-Tucker was a part of the Jazz’s starting lineup.
But it soon became clear that George was an emerging point guard talent deserving of a larger role, and eight games into the 2023-24 campaign, George earned a place in the starting unit, moving Horton-Tucker to the bench.
At that point in the season, it was often Dunn who was the odd man out on the guard line, but as Hardy said, Dunn and Sexton have been in a groove lately.
Dunn has been a steadying force for the Jazz and Sexton has seemed to find a balance between scoring and facilitating that is really beneficial.
Hardy is right that there are only so many people that can play, and so long as the Jazz continue to find success with their current rotation (success is not always defined by wins), then it is likely that Horton-Tucker will pick up more DNPs as the season progresses.
