The Utah Jazz absorbed their third straight loss after losing to the Sacramento Kings, 116-111, at Golden 1 Center on Sunday. The Jazz have now dropped 10 of their last 12 games.
The defeat to the Kings could be extra costly, as Isaiah Collier could miss some time. He suffered a knee contusion in the middle of the fourth quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest, as announced by the team on X.
Collier finished with 21 points on 9-of-21 shooting, five rebounds, and three assists.
The 21-year-old guard has already missed 11 games this season due to a hamstring strain and, more recently, an illness.
The Jazz have been criticized for suddenly benching players, including Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Brice Sensabaugh, in the fourth quarter, purportedly tanking games to improve their odds at getting the top overall pick in the draft lottery.
The NBA has already fined Utah $500,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league.”
The severity of Collier's knee contusion remains unclear, but fans are already skeptical.
“The 45th fake injury in the last week,” said @jhatem.
“Do you think anyone will believe this? Have some shame, you're a failure,” added @hogsmeadd.
“And y’all are some b****** for losing games on purpose,” exclaimed @BubbaHubbaWubba.
“LMAO, get the f*** out of here,” wrote @PatsFlamini.
“F*** Isaiah Collier, trash ah player like the whole Jazz team,” commented @Yoooshiiiiii_.
The Jazz fell to 20-48, trailing only the Kings, who improved to 18-51, for the worst record in the Western Conference.
Utah has never won the No. 1 overall pick since the draft lottery was introduced in 1985.
