A cold night in Helsinki saw the All-Star forward miss every attempt from deep, but Utah fans can find solace in his health and long-term scoring pedigree.
Nine three-point attempts.
Zero makes.
Lauri Markkanen has probably had better days.
The Utah Jazz star struggled Thursday as Finland opened the second round of 2027 FIBA World Cup European qualifying with an 86-81 loss to Sweden.
Markkanen finished with 11 points and three rebounds in nearly 32 minutes, making just two of his 13 shots from the field. Both came from inside the arc, while he went 0-for-9 from three and 7-for-8 at the free-throw line.
Not ideal.
Also probably not the moment to start wondering whether Markkanen suddenly forgot how to shoot a basketball.
One ugly August performance doesn't erase what Utah watched him do over an entire NBA season.
Markkanen averaged a career-high 26.7 points last season while shooting 47.7% from the field and 35.5% from three. He added 6.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, putting together one of the best offensive seasons of his career.
Thursday was the opposite.
Sometimes that happens.
And Markkanen didn't exactly sound concerned afterward.
"My body felt really good, much better than in the last games in July," Markkanen told reporters after the loss, translated from Finnish. "I got to take shots that felt pretty good, but today nothing went in and I couldn't get into a rhythm that way. Sometimes you have nights like this."
That's probably about as complicated as this needs to be.
Sweden also deserves some credit.
Denzel Andersson and Viktor Gaddefors were tasked with making life difficult for Markkanen around the basket, while his outside shot never gave Sweden much reason to change course.
He wasn't alone there, either.
Finland's basketball federation noted that Markkanen, Sasu Salin and Miro Little combined to attempt 20 three-pointers without making one despite getting many of those attempts in good rhythm.
That's basketball … even if it's particularly ugly basketball.
There would be reason for Utah to pay attention if this became a pattern and eventually followed Markkanen into Jazz training camp.
One game isn't that.
If anything, the most encouraging part of Thursday for Utah might have been Markkanen saying his body felt better than it did during Finland's July games.
The Jazz already know what their 29-year-old forward can do when the shots fall.
They watched him average nearly 27 points per game last season.
For one afternoon in Helsinki, they didn't.
Nine misses don't change much about what comes next for the Jazz star.
