It's fair to say Talen Horton-Tucker is growing into his point guard role with the Utah Jazz. He racked up 37 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists in the Jazz's 119-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.
It was his third straight game with at least 20 points while he was notably just two rebounds short of becoming the first Jazz player to record a triple-double since 2008. Overall, it's been a remarkable improvement for the former Laker who initially struggled taking up the point guard position following Collin Sexton's injury.
And everyone associated with the Jazz has been pleased with THT's improvement, including Jordan Clarkson who could only heap praise on his teammate.
“He’s been doing a lot of great things: Getting us into sets, making plays, making the spot-up trey — I’ve been telling him to shoot those!” Clarkson was quoted as saying on The Salt Lake Tribune. “All in all, he’s made strides throughout the whole season, and he’s been really good for us recently. Now you’re kind of seeing his winning plays and what he brings to us.”
Kelly Olynyk echoed that sentiment while acknowledging that the Horton-Tucker experiment at point guard was a work in progress.
“Obviously it’s a work in progress. He hasn’t really played the point position [before] — he’s more of a 2-guard or a big guard. But he’s so talented,” Olynyk stated. “He gets to the rim so easily, he gets by people, uses his body really well, he’s shot the ball well lately, which has been good.
“He makes big plays for us, athletic plays that other guys can’t make, just getting by guys, drawing contact, finishing, and then making shots. So he’s been big for us, especially with Collin out.”
The Utah Jazz currently occupy the last play-in spot at 10th with a 33-35 record.