The Utah Jazz beat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets 109-97 in the preseason opener.
First things first, it was so fun to see the Jazz back in action. It’s been probably the most eventful offseason in Utah Jazz history with winning the #2 pick in the draft lottery and drafting Darryn Peterson. That was followed by the trade of Walker Kessler to the Los Angeles Lakers that netted the Jazz another treasure trove of picks and swaps.
But all that left Jazz fans waiting to see this Jazz team in action. It was a bit of a mixed bag but overall Jazz fans have to be excited. To start, Jazz fans had to be excited to see Darryn Peterson starting, although it probably shouldn’t have been much of a surprise based off what we saw at camp.
Peterson looked like he was tryign to play within the offense more than he was trying to get his shots. He had solid counting stats with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal (that assist total is deceiving because he set up some good shots on threes that didn’t fall). His shot wasn’t falling as much as you’d like for a debut, he was 1/5 from the field and 0/2 from three. That said, he looked mostly just tentative and got more comfortable as the game went on. His shot was mostly short. The more he gets to the basket the better.
Lauri Markkanen had a classic Markkanen game going 3/7 from three with 17 points. He was just 5/12 from the field though but it was pretty clear what Markkanen’s role might be. Markkanen is hands down the biggest luxury in the league. When he was forcing it in this one, the shot wasn’t quite falling. But when he let the game come to him, he was lethal. Markkanen is a purely offball shooter and cutter. And even though he is overpaid for that role, with this team it works. And because the Jazz have handled their contracts well, and subsidized the roster with young talent in Peterson, it’s fine. It might be an issue down the road, but for now, Markkanen is the most lethal third/fourth option in the league. Utah will mostly likely evolve to have the offense run through Keyonte George and Darryn Peterson with Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen playing off of them. It makes this Utah offense lethal. There’s no player you can double because it opens things up for everyone else. That said, there was one player that struggled in this one…
Jusuf Nurkic wasn’t great in the first quarter. His defensive effort was not great in the first quarter. He also didn’t finish well on offense and missed his threes. It was clear he was the player that Denver was alllowing to beat them and it was the righ strategy. Nurkic got subbed out a few times because of the need for more athleticism on the floor which came in Jaxson Hayes minutes. We’ll see if this starting lineup continues or if Will Hardy eventually moves to having Jaren Jackson Jr. start.
Speaking of Jaren Jackson Jr., JJJ was really good tonight. His ability to play on and off the ball on offense makes him valuable. He had multiple buckets in isolation on in postups and iso’s. He also found open shooters when he got double teamed. On defense he was solid as well, although it was difficult to gauge too much with Nikola Jokic passing the ball. Utah had their non centers guarding Jokic and then had their centers recovering. Jokic was fine being a facilitator and cut up the Jazz, who got confused off ball multiple times. That said, the Jazz defense looked better than last year. It looked like the difference beween the 29th best defense to the 20th best defense, but that’s an improvement!
Ace Bailey was a part of that defense. He was one of the bright spots in the game with his size, athleticism and scoring. Bailey looked like an impact defender and rebounded the ball well. His 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block night was really promising. There’s no doubt he’s going to earn more and more minutes as the season goes on.
Finally, Keyonte George looked realy good in a point guard role. He scored 15 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists but made the right read multiple times. He also manufactured 5 free throws, something that he’s so good at doing. His defensive effort was also there making that contract look good so far. Another smart decision for this Utah Jazz front office that has put together a fun, athletic, young team that is going to surprise some people this season.
