On Thursday night, the Utah Jazz will return to the court in Salt Lake City to play the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they will do so with sad hearts. The game between the Jazz and the Warriors was scheduled to take place on Wednesday; however, it was canceled owing to the passing of Golden State assistant coach Dejan Milojevic on Tuesday night from a heart attack he had during a team dinner in Utah. Milojevic, a renowned NBA coach and legend in Serbian basketball, was 46 years old.
Although the Jazz stated that tickets for Wednesday night’s game will be honored, the Warriors-Jazz game’s new date was not immediately confirmed. The next game for Golden State is on Friday night at home versus the Dallas Mavericks. Utah’s next goal is to extend their winning run to seven games. With two victories above.500 for the first time this season, the Jazz have won 12 of their last 14 games. 
On December 11, Utah suffered a 134-120 defeat in Oklahoma City, dropping to 7-16. Since then, the Jazz have gone 15-4. It should come as no surprise that Markkanen missed the final eight games in a row because of a hamstring ailment. It wasn’t as close as the 14-point final score might suggest, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder to victory with 30 points and seven assists in just three quarters. Before Utah scored 45 points in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City had a 36-point lead. Since dominating the visiting Indiana Pacers 132-105 on Monday, the Jazz have not played. With 32 points and 10 rebounds, Markkanen led Utah, a performance that led Pacers coach Rick Carlisle to draw parallels between the Jazz star and one of his former players, Dirk Nowitzki.
Before traveling to Utah, the Thunder lost their next two road games against Los Angeles clubs. The Thunder fell 128-117 to the Clippers on Tuesday after losing 112-105 to the Lakers on Monday. Jalen Williams scored 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field in the most recent loss, while Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort each chipped in with 19 points.
After falling behind by 12 points in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City came back to take a 115-114 lead thanks to a 3-pointer by Williams with 3:37 remaining. But the Clippers won the last 14-2, with Paul George scoring 11 of his 38 points over that stretch.
