Utah Jazz report card: Jazz don't receive any 'Favors' in final 17 minutes of Bucks loss

MILWAUKEE — In a city known for its brew, the Jazz didn't get tipped any Favors Monday night.

Though Derrick Favors tallied 23 points and 15 rebounds through just three quarters, he only saw the bench in the fourth quarter and overtime of his team's 109-108 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

GUARDS: Starting guards Earl Watson and Randy Foye were a combined 0 of 10 from the field for zero points. Yes, they scored zero points. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee starting backcourt comprised of Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis combined for 54 points on 23-of-35 shooting. Jennings' 17 assists Monday give him 36 in just the past two games.

Alec Burks' 19-point night in 36 minutes keeps this grade from being perhaps the first F in this author's history of writing report cards for the Deseret News. GRADE: D.

FORWARDS: Neither side was fantastic. Paul Millsap ripped 14 rebounds but shot 7 of 17 and committed three turnovers. Marvin Williams was once again an embarrassment, as the former lottery pick went scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting in 15 minutes.

Gordon Hayward (38) and DeMarre Carroll (33) played more minutes than Williams. Hayward (3-of-16 shooting) struggled mightily, while Carroll (13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, three steals) excelled Monday in the same vein as Burks.

Milwaukee small forward Luc Mbah a Moute (seven points on 3-of-5 shooting, four rebounds, 20 minutes) excelled in the time allotted him on the floor, but Ersan Ilyasova scored seven points on just 3-of-13 shooting. The fifth-year player averages 12 points per game. GRADE: C+.

CENTERS: With normal starter Al Jefferson out, Favors was monstrous in the 30 minutes he played through three quarters, offering perhaps the best game of his young career. Unfortunately, Utah coach Tyrone Corbin left him out of the mix when it most mattered.

The third-year NBA head coach said he kept Favors out largely because of the play of Enes Kanter (18 points, 10 rebounds, 32 minutes). Still, it's odd that Favors saw no action whatsoever in crucial time when he had seen all but two minutes per quarter heading into the final stanza.

Utah would've cleaned this category if Milwaukee center Larry Sanders, who shot just 3 of 9, didn't grab 16 rebounds. GRADE: B.

BENCH: Led by fantastic efforts from Burks, Carroll and Kanter, the Jazz reserves outscored their Buck counterparts 63-33. But 17-point scorer JJ Redick scored timely buckets in the game's final minutes. GRADE: B+.

OVERALL: Utah impressed in erasing a 10-point deficit entering the fourth quarter and outrebounding its opponent 59-42 on the road. But the Jazz committed 21 turnovers, with a major one that didn't show up on the stat sheet: Corbin could have managed his rotation better when some players could have alternated in the fourth quarter and overtime. Favors needed to play at least a few minutes during that time. Now, the Jazz have lost four of their last five contests. GRADE: C+.

Rhett Wilkinson studies atUtah State University and is the co-founder of Aggie BluePrint, USU's first student magazine. A two-time Deseret News intern, he now works as an intern for Deseret Book's LDS Living. rhett.wilkinson@usu.edu or @wilklogan