What a battle it was under the lights at the Footprint Center! The Utah Jazz dropped a 118-96 decision to the Phoenix Suns in their Emirates NBA Cup opener. Sure, the scoreboard didn't go the Utah Jazz way tonight—Phoenix jumped out to a 37-17 first-quarter lead that set the tone—but let's talk about what really mattered: the Jazz's fight-back spirit, standout individual performances, and the building blocks we're seeing from this roster.

Lauri Markkanen led the way for the Jazz with 33 points on 10-20 shooting from the field and 9-12 from the free throw line. Walker Kessler added a team high 13 rebounds. Keyonte George continued with his strong assist numbers and recorded another 9 assists to go along with 17 points. Keyonte was again hot from the free throw line, going 9-11. Cody Williams and Elijah Harkless again were given minutes and played very hard on the defensive end of the court. Cody added 8 points and Elijah added 5 points.

For the Suns, Devin Booker was a problem for the Jazz all night and ended the evening with 36 points on 13-23 from the field, including 6-9 on threes.

Final score, Utah Jazz 96 and the Phoenix Suns 118.