Jazz Taste Harsh Reality in Early Season Loss to Warriors

On Friday night, the Golden State Warriors boat raced the Utah Jazz by a score of 127- 86. The loss dropped the Jazz to 0-2 on the season and, unfortunately, felt like a precursor for what we might see a lot of this season.

Golden State had their way offensively. They hit 20 three-pointers, dished out 35 assists as a team, and won the game by 41 points. The game was decided so early that Steph Curry didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. For Utah, finding a silver lining from that contest is much harder.

John: 14p | 7r | 4a | 1s | 1b
Lauri: 13p | 8r | 2a | 1s
Keyonte: 12p | 3a | 2r | 2s
Jordan: 11p | 2a | 1r
Collin: 10p | 2r | 1a#TakeNote | Presented by @LVT_USA pic.twitter.com/4yjETWcBxn
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 26, 2024

While a two-game sample size is far too small to draw any conclusions, the Jazz already rank 29th in the league in defensive rating. They paced the league in this area last year as well. After another summer of losing talent and adding youth, the team's goal of losing games is clear.

Last night, the team and fans got a taste of the harsh reality of what this season could look like. Despite being in their third season post-Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, the Jazz are still in the early stages of a rebuild.

Lauri Markkanen struggled to get anything going offensively, with the Warriors gearing their defense toward stopping him. After his dominant season opener versus the Grizzlies, he shot just 4/17 from the floor. Overall, he was unable to create any real space.

Starting guards Keyonte George and Collin Sexton combined for four assists compared to nine turnovers. I was pleased with how George played for a good chunk of the game. He created open looks for his teammates which weren’t representative of his three assists. The Jazz shot just 21% on threes. Once the game got out of reach though, things got sloppy and the turnovers started to pile up for George.

Taylor Hendricks and Cody Williams shot a combined 1/12 from the floor and 0/7 from deep despite getting open looks. Both players are raw and need to find ways to be more impactful. Overall, last night was a game you look at, learn from, and throw it away.

please enjoy Cody William’s first ever NBA bucket 🥹🫶#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/mSgVbSZddX
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 26, 2024

On the bright side, every night shouldn’t be this ugly. The Jazz competed during their home opener and hung tough against a short-handed but talented Grizzlies team. While still a loss, those losses make you feel better about the team's future. Seeing young guys make positive contributions and show growth will make this season worthwhile.

The Jazz finished last season 5-25 and have further ushered in a youth movement for this season. It’s gearing up to be a long and painful season for the Jazz. Last night was a taste of what a rebuilding season feels like. Hopefully, the next 80 games will produce more moral victories for the team.

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