Keyonte George’s disastrous Jazz performance against Rockets shows why he’s a keeper

The Utah Jazz just suffered their most embarrassing loss of the season since losing by 40 to the Minnesota Timberwolves three weeks ago. The Houston Rockets defeated them, winning 129-101. At the center of the Jazz’s problems was Keyonte George, who had his worst game of the season. However, the fact that he is playing so poorly further proves why the Jazz should keep him.

When it was all said and done, George placed a goose egg in the points column eight turnovers and a team-worst plus-minus of minus-27. Was it just an off game for George? Yes, but it was also questionable whether he took part in the competition due to an illness.

It was pretty obvious how much the Jazz struggled because he clearly wasn’t himself. When the Rockets began to pull away in the second quarter as the Jazz couldn’t stop coughing up the ball, George was responsible for two of their costly turnovers that sealed Utah’s fate against Houston.

While George isn’t entirely responsible for the loss, he is primarily responsible for the way the loss turned out after what was arguably the worst performance of his career. But how badly Utah lost also shows how important George is to the Jazz’s (limited) success. If he plays with good health, Utah has a chance, and if he doesn’t, games like today’s will happen.

George’s ascension has been on full display since Opening Night for the Jazz. If the Jazz don’t have the ascended version of George playing, it will lead to curbs at home, showing how much they need him healthy.

Most of all, this all further confirms that the Jazz’s best bet with George is to re-sign him when they get the chance. Utah may have played games with Walker Kessler this past season, but George has clearly shown how important he is to winning, showing they shouldn’t do the same with him.

However, there is still something very clearly visible in games like today.

If you are sick, don’t play!

Hopefully no one gets the wrong impression of George’s play. This was undoubtedly a downright terrible performance, but it was the exception, not the norm. It was also pretty cool that George made the effort to be available despite being sick.

However, it was clear that his play was hurting the Jazz as a team. It’s no coincidence that he posted his worst stats while overcoming an illness so severe that it threatened his playing status before he was given the green light.

So as great as it is to see one of the Jazz’s most important players fight through it, it was also clear that he shouldn’t have done that. It’s not like Utah will have a problem losing a game, especially if the odds weren’t high anyway (Houston is pretty good in case you guys couldn’t tell).

Fortunately, George’s health will improve from now on and in a short time everyone will forget about today, but seriously, guys, if it’s obvious that you need a day off, take that day off.