Over the last several years the NBA offseason has been an exciting event for fans to watch as star players move from one place to another. Fans will be constantly checking Twitter to see the latest moves made by their favorite team or other teams league-wide. With the preseason now underway, the offseason before the 2022-23 season begins is now over. During the offseason, the Jazz were the ones with the spotlight on them. We have talked about all of the moves that the team made during the offseason, but now is the time to see this new Jazz team take the court. They just wrapped up their first week of preseason action, but how did they look?
at Toronto
The first game for the Jazz had them facing off against the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Canada Series. This game was tightly contested throughout the first half of play but the Raptors pulled away in the third quarter, eventually winning 114-82.
The top performer in this one for the Jazz was newly acquired forward Lauri Markkanen. He had a game-high 20 points and added five rebounds in 24 minutes of action. The Jazz had a tough time shooting the ball in this one, shooting just 32 percent from the field and only 25 percent from beyond the arc. With the league having so much focus on shooting, especially from the outside, this type of performance will make it difficult to win.
Another statistic from this game that stands out is the rebound numbers. The Raptors were able to out-rebound the Jazz, 61-46. For a team that is young and doesn’t have the most talent on paper, it will be key for Utah to grab rebounds and outwork their opponents. This game was a good learning experience for this team, as it was just the first preseason game.
at Portland
Just like the game against the Raptors, this game was close throughout the first half. This time, however, the Jazz were the team to have a big second half and pick up the 118-81 win.
The preseason is a time to build confidence and learn how to play with each other and this win should help build toward that. The top performer from this game was Jordan Clarkson, who had 19 points and was in the starting lineup. Removing Clarkson from his sixth-man role seemed to work for the Jazz against the Blazers, and it will be interesting to see how they utilize his skill set this season. Now is the time for the coaching staff to try different lineups out and see what they like.
This Jazz win was fueled by succeeding in the two statistical categories that they struggled with last game. They out-rebounded Portland 45 to 38 and shot the ball well, making 48 percent of their shots from the field and 45 percent from three. If they can continue to beat teams on the glass and shoot efficiently, wins will follow.
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Thoughts
The Jazz had one game where they did not play efficiently and struggled to shoot the ball. The other game was the opposite but that is why the preseason is important. It’s a chance to get a team into a rhythm and figure out what will work to help the team play its best basketball.
For Utah, it’s a positive sign that they were able to have a good game after struggling in their first outing of the preseason. This shows that the new coaching staff knows how to make adjustments that will help the players to perform at their best. There are a lot of Jazz fans that don’t want this team to succeed this year for next year’s draft picks, but it’s still important to see that this coaching staff is the right one for the organization. This will be just as important for this team going forward.
Up next
The Jazz play their first home game of the preseason against the San Antonio Spurs. The game will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. and can be seen on AT&T Sportsnet.
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