Wolves

Takeaways: Keyonte George scores career-high 43 points to lift Jazz past Timberwolves 127-122

The Jazz, who took George with one of the picks they got in the Rudy Gobert trade, swung the upset at home.

By Chris Hine

The Minnesota Star Tribune

January 21, 2026 at 5:13AM

Jazz guard Keyonte George shoots as Jaylen Clark (22) and Rudy Gobert (27) of the Wolves defend on Tuesday, Jan. 20, in Salt Lake City. (Bethany Baker/The Associated Press)

The Timberwolves likely thought they had an easy victory at the end of this four-game road swing.

Fans know that’s sometimes the most dangerous thing for them to think, and the Wolves let go of a game they could have won in a 127-122 loss to Utah on Tuesday, Jan. 20, before 18,186 at Delta Center.

Not long after playing some of their best basketball at the start of this month, the Wolves have now lost three straight for just the second time this season, with this loss one of their worst against tanking Utah with the Wolves at near full strength and having a rest advantage.

Utah had entered the night on a four-game losing streak.

The Wolves had no answer for Keyonte George, who had a career-high 43 points, while Jusuf Nurkic had a triple-double with 16 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists.

The Wolves lost after giving up a 15-point lead they had built late in the third quarter. Anthony Edwards had 38 for the Wolves while the defense allowed Utah to shoot 55% and 41% from three-point range.

The Wolves shot just 9-for-30 in the fourth quarter compared to 17-for-25 for the Jazz.

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What it means

For most of the season, the Wolves have done a good job of beating the teams they should. But the old Wolves, who sometimes play down to the level of their competition, haven’t quite gone away. Their defense failed them, and it never seemed like they took the game seriously.

Wolves-Jazz box score

NBA standings

Utah opened the fourth quarter by hitting 10-for-10 from the floor. The Wolves looked like they had put some of these bad habits behind them with their start to the month. But the loss to the Jazz was a reminder that they can be their own worst enemy.

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Coach Chris Finch has said defensive intensity early is one indication of whether the Wolves are locked in. They never appeared that way from the start.

Despite their yearslong issue with playing down to their opponents, the Wolves do have a 17-4 record this season against teams under .500.

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Jazz hang around in first half

The Wolves opened the night strong by hitting nine of their first 11 shots from the floor, and they opened up an 11-point lead. It seemed as if the Wolves would run the tanking Jazz off the floor. But George, who Utah selected 16th overall in 2023 out of Baylor with one of the picks it got in the Rudy Gobert trade, had other ideas. He finished with 25 points in the first half, including four threes.

“It looked like we thought it was gonna be an easy night, but we let our foot off the gas,” assistant coach Kevin Hanson said on the FanDuel Sports broadcast.

The Wolves defense was a little too relaxed, and the shots dried up from deep (6-for-18 in the first half).

Ant lets the foot breathe

The broadcast showed Edwards with his shoe and sock off his right foot when he was resting at the start of the fourth quarter. A right foot injury, and maintenance of that injury, has cost Edwards a total of five games since the start of December.

Beringer gets one full shift

With both Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid back from injury, Joan Beringer remained a part of the rotation for the fourth consecutive game, but he played just two shifts. Beringer played 23 minutes, including the closing minutes, when the Wolves played the Spurs and both were out with injuries.

Against the Jazz, Beringer started the second quarter, played for 4:45 and finished with four points and three rebounds. He played just 18 seconds in the second half.

“Really has been fun to watch him play. He does the things that he can do, plays with an incredible engine. Just kind of goes after everything,” Finch told reporters before the game.

Finch added some high praise for where Beringer is in his career, especially considering he has only played organized basketball for about five years.

“He has feel. It’s weird, a guy who’s come to the game so late. Usually, in that position, feel doesn’t necessarily come easily to centers,” Finch said. “But he’s learning on the job. Some of the plays he made down the stretch, I thought offensively and defensively, were really nuanced plays that rookies don’t generally make.”

about the writer

Chris Hine

Sports reporter

Chris Hine is the Timberwolves reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune.

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