What Helped Jazz's Darryn Peterson Find His Comfort Zone vs. Nuggets

The Utah Jazz closed out their second preseason game of the year on Tuesday night–– a rematch against the Denver Nuggets–– in which this time, the Jazz came up short 106-117 in their home floor of the Delta Center.

However, in the midst of the Jazz's exhibition loss, it certainly turned out to be a much-better performance for their No. 2 draft pick from this summer, Darryn Peterson, who saw things clicking a whole lot more than he saw in game one.

Peterson's first preseason game resulted in just a three-point outing with 1-5 shooting from the field. However, this time around, he became more of a focal point offensively, playing 30 minutes to post a game-high 23 points on 10-18 shooting from the field, paired with three rebounds and three assists.

What Darryn Peterson Said Led to a Much-Better Night

As to what Peterson attributes the jump in production to, he spoke after the game saying he felt both more adjusted, and felt that the game "slowed down" a bit after his first one.

"I felt a little bit more adjusted," Peterson said post-game. "Second game, but none of it felt different... It kind of slowed down after the first [game]. I think the second play, I was guarding Joker, so all of that was still settling in with me. But today, I just felt more at ease."

#2 overall pick Darryn Peterson (game-high 23 PTS) was GETTIN' BUCKETS in his second NBA preseason game with the @utahjazz! pic.twitter.com/jjKRiz1MG3
— NBA (@NBA) October 7, 2026

Stepping foot on an NBA floor for the first time, especially against an all-world talent like Nikola Jokic on the other end, it becomes easy to think why a first-year rookie might not be fully adjusted as soon as game one.

Fast forward to game two, though, and Peterson was able to take everything in with a bit more experience––which also includes making some of the right reads on the offensive end, where he admittedly struggled in Utah's first game over the weekend.

"Still got a lot of room to improve. I watched film after the last game. Made a couple of the wrong reads. Got to watch some after today. Hopefully, I made the right ones today. But, yeah, it's all a work in progress."

Will Hardy Felt a Darryn Peterson Bounceback Was Coming

It's certainly a good sign to be had for any team to see a high-scoring, productive performance out of their prized No. 2 pick from this summer.

However, if you were to ask Jazz head coach Will Hardy before the game, he felt as if Peterson was due for a night that looked more settled in, simply based on what he's showcased in practice.

"I think Darryn, he wasn't himself in the first game," Hardy said before his second game against Denver. "That's not the Darryn that we've seen during camp. I think he was a little bit caught in-between. Sometimes, when you're trying to be perfect on every play, and you don't want to screw up, you can be a little bit frozen."

Oct 6, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Darryn Peterson (22) brings the ball up the court against the Denver Nuggets during the second quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"I feel like we've seen Darryn play much more freely in practice to date, and I felt like in the game he was really trying to be maybe overly precise... So, I feel like tonight, we'll see a Darryn that's a little more settled in."

Now with the nerves out of the picture from the first two preliminary showings of his young career, perhaps Peterson can keep building onto that moving forward for a strong preseason finish, to then take that momentum into a stellar rookie season later this month.

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