Rookie guard Darryn Peterson scored 18 points in 26 minutes during the Jazz’s 117-111 loss to San Antonio on Wednesday, but he didn’t play at all during the last seven minutes of the game, including the entire overtime period. Reserve wing Brice Sensabaugh checked in with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter and hit a three-point shot to help Utah send the game to overtime, where he scored the team’s only six points on two more three-pointers.

“We’ve got to clean up execution,” head coach Will Hardy said after the loss when asked why Peterson didn’t play in the last seven minutes, per Shreyas Laddha of The Salt Lake Tribune. “In those moments of the game, you have to be able to execute the game plan. I think Darryn is making a lot of strides, but in that moment, I felt like it was better to go with Brice.”

While the Jazz coach didn’t expand on his reference to cleaning up the team’s “execution,” Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link) notes that’s “Hardy-speak” for Peterson making a mistake on an offensive play and/or defensive scheme. Still, Hardy went on to suggest that the late-game lineup decision was more about his faith in Sensabaugh than an indictment of Peterson.

“Brice is someone that we trust, and he also had a little bit fresher legs,” Hardy said. “He has a real knack for scoring and using his body. It’s not just threes. He happened to hit a three there, but he’s really good at getting into his defender and getting some pull-ups as well. It just felt like a moment where we needed some one-on-one scoring.”

We have more from around the Northwest:

• While it has been an up-and-down start to the season for Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, the three-time MVP reached a milestone on Wednesday when he registered 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in a win over New Orleans. As Brett Martel of The Associated Press writes, it was the 200th regular season triple-double of Jokic’s career, making him the second player to ever reach that threshold. Jokic needs 10 more triple-doubles to break Russell Westbrook’s record of 209 career triple-doubles.
• Robert Williams missed Thursday’s game vs. Memphis due to a sore left knee, but Trail Blazers head coach Micah Nori downplayed the issue, telling reports that the decision to sit the big man was mostly precautionary, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Portland badly missed Williams in its first loss of the season, Freeman notes, as reserve centers Branden Carlson and Micah Potter totaled just three points and four rebounds, with a combined -18 plus/minus mark.
• Facing his former team for the first time, Trail Blazers guard Ja Morant was forced to exit Thursday’s contest vs. the Grizzlies early due to a left hamstring injury, according to the Blazers (Twitter link). There’s no word yet on whether the injury will force Morant to miss additional time. He finished the night on the bench with a wrap around his left leg, Freeman writes.