Utah Jazz Have Gotten Back to Playing Elite-Level Defense

Despite some of their early season struggles, one thing has been a constant for the Utah Jazz — their topflight defense.

Don’t look now, but the Utah Jazz could be the NBA’s No. 1 defense by midnight. I don’t mean that in terms of esoteric concepts, i.e. Rudy Gobert’s effect on a driver’s psyche or the team’s length and ability to switch on the perimeter. I’m talking actual, empirical data proving that the Jazz currently have the best defense in the league.

As of this writing, the Jazz are second only to the Atlanta Hawks in defensive rating, allowing just 98.7 points per 100 possessions. With the Hawks set to tip-off their week against the Golden State Warriors, who average 118.4 points per game, the smart money is on Utah taking over the top spot by night’s end.

After more than a year of people referring back to the latter half of the 2014-15 season when they were stifling opponents at a historic rate, the Jazz have gotten back to being elite defensively.

No single game has shown this like their most recent contest against those same Hawks. The Jazz racked up nine steals and nine blocks in the game and managed to hold Atlanta to just 68 total points. It was the second-lowest point total put up by any team this season.

However, the Jazz defense is far from a one-hit wonder. On the season, they have already held opponents to 91 points or less on 10 separate occasions. As a result, they currently lead the league in opponent points, allowing less than 93 points per contest.

They’ve only had a handful of real clunkers. On opening night, they allowed Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers to score 113 points. They also struggled against the New York Knicks (109 points allowed) and Houston Rockets (111). Otherwise, the Jazz have been consistently solid and occasionally brilliant.

The reasons the Jazz defense has surged to the top of the Association are many. In every aspect of the game, they’re making it hard on opponents.

In overall field goal percentage, the Jazz are No. 1 league-wide, holding opponents to just 42.3 percent from the field.

Another way to look at Utah’s effect on opponents’ shooting is the numerical difference between teams’ average performance and what they do against the Jazz. This is most evident down low, where Gobert’s big presence comes into play. Within six feet of the basket, teams are 5.1 percent worse than normal from the field.

This mark also tops the NBA.

However, the Jazz have been equally good in other areas. In the screen-roll game, they’ve done well to keep teams from burning them up. When defended by the Jazz, the opposing roll man is scoring just 0.8 points per possession and posting an effective field goal (eFG) percentage of 38.8 percent. Again — No. 1 league-wide.

They’ve also been able to chase teams off of the three-point line. Against the Jazz, teams are attempting just 22.5 threes per game. As a result they’re only making 7.8 three-pointers per contest; these are the second-lowest averages in the NBA. In a league where three-point shooting has become the end-all, this is huge.

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Whether or not the Jazz can leapfrog Dwight Howard and the Hawks remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the way the team has been able to defend, specifically with Derrick Favors out and George Hill and Gordon Hayward already having missed significant time, has been incredible.

It’s a long season, but if the early returns are any indication, the Jazz defense has reclaimed its title as the most stifling unit in the NBA.