Will Hardy Gives One Jazz Player His Flowers After Win vs. Pelicans

The Utah Jazz pulled out a close win in their home opener matchup vs. the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, 120-119.

And it was in that narrow victory for the Jazz were a couple of names from Utah's frontcourt that stepped up to the occasion in a big way.

One of those standouts was none other than Jaren Jackson Jr.–– who shined on both sides of the floor for a game-high 24 points on 7-15 shooting from the field, paired with a strong 10 rebounds and a couple of blocks.

But then there was another name in the Jazz's frontcourt who exceeded expectations. That was none other than Jaxson Hayes, who came off the bench to play a solid 26 minutes, and stood out to the point where head coach Will Hardy made sure to give some unprompted credit for his performance after the game.

What Will Hardy Said About Jaxson Hayes' Performance

Hardy spoke about Jaxson Hayes' night in his post-game presser following the Jazz's win over the Pelicans, highlighting not only the showing he had against New Orleans in particular, but also his ability to adjust and adapt within Utah's rotation upon arriving at the team earlier this year.

"I want to make sure that I give some love to Jax," Hardy said after the Jazz's win.

"He started camp expecting to come off the bench. Then, we had the Nurk injury. He started for a bit, and after one game, we just needed to make an adjustment to some of our rotations... Everybody gets hung up on who starts. But, there's Jaxson playing at the end, and I thought he gave us tremendous energy tonight."

"The lob threat, the rolling, and then some of those defensive weak-side plays were huge for us getting the win tonight. It was not a shock to me based on the early parts of Jaxson and my relationship. He handled the adjustment to the rotation great and really helped us win the game tonight."

Jaxson Hayes Shines in Second Game With Jazz

In all, Hayes had one of his best performances in recent memory, even dating back to last season. He turned his 26 bench minutes into 17 points on 7-8 shooting, five rebounds, and two assists, while also logging the best plus-minus of the game at +9.

It's exactly the type of performance the Jazz need out of their remaining frontcourt while stuck a little shorthanded to start the year.

Without veteran big man Jusuf Nurkic, paired with Kyle Filipowski seemingly still ramping up from his offseason back surgery, it's forced Hardy and Utah's staff to make some small tweaks to his rotation within the frontcourt through the first two games.

In game one against the Memphis Grizzlies, Hayes was deemed the starter in place of Nurkic at the five, which led to Hardy quickly pivoting for the next game. One game later against the Pelicans, Hayes would be slotted down to the bench, while Ace Bailey would be the one called up to the starting five.

But even while Hayes was shifted down to the second unit, it didn't stop him from making some of the more impactful plays of the game, largely thanks to his presence as a roller and a lob-finisher that can open up this already solid offense even more.

It remains to be seen how Hardy and the Jazz change up their rotation moving forward, knowing that Hayes is more than capable of holding the fort down at the five spot. Perhaps their frontcourt setup will be flexible in terms of what Utah's matchup will be for that night.

However, with a statement game being stamped in the books this early in the year, there's little doubt that Hayes has cemented himself even further into Utah's rotation than he already was moving forward.

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