Utah Jazz rookie Walker Kessler shook off early foul trouble on Tuesday and emerged with a productive fourth quarter in a 111-104 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Kessler produced nine of his 12 total points off the bench in the final period to help keep the Jazz within reach. He finished the contest with seven rebounds, four blocked shots and one assist in 24 minutes of work for his best outing of the preseason.
The 22nd pick went 4-of-4 from the field in the fourth quarter to lead the Jazz, who trailed by 20 points entering the final 12 minutes. He played the entire period as the Jazz outscored the Spurs 31-18 to keep things interesting late.
“I think in the fourth quarter, he really found his identity,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “He stuck to keeping it simple, playing defense without fouling, protecting the rim, rebounding and running. He can really get out and run the floor. He got a couple of easy ones. Offensively, his screening angles were a lot better in the fourth quarter and allowed him to get behind the defense some.”
The Talen block 🔥
The Walker dunk 🔥#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/VNA5EOyZjn— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 12, 2022
Kessler saw his action in the first quarter get cut short because of early fouls. He picked up three in less than two minutes, which prompted Hardy to pull him from the game. He entered the fourth quarter with five fouls, but settled in and avoided fouling out.
Hardy said it proved to be a valuable learning experience for him.
Being a rim-protecting big, as a rookie, is hard in the NBA. He had a couple of cheap fouls early in the game. It’s something he’ll watch film on and continue to work on as we continue to head toward opening night.
The Jazz are trying to accelerate his learning curve throughout training camp in an attempt to get him up to speed by the start of the regular season next week. He projects to have a large role this season and has shown that he is capable of producing on a nightly basis.
Kessler has been among the standouts in training camp to this point and looks to be a player that can make an impact on both ends of the floor. With some added development, Kessler appears to have a bright future ahead in Salt Lake City.
Utah wraps up the preseason on Friday with the Dallas Mavericks.
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