Utah Jazz: Takeaways from opening night against the Denver Nuggets

Should we be worried about the defense?

For the Utah Jazz to have a shot at the playoffs this season, they are going to need to be an elite defensive team. That’s why it was so concerning to see the Jazz struggle mightily through the first three quarters against the Denver Nuggets.

It’s important to remember, though, that the Nuggets were a top five offense in the NBA last season, and all they did was add Paul Millsap over the summer.  It’s not like it was the Sydney Kings out there. However, it didn’t appear that an elite offense was just beating an elite defense. The Jazz genuinely looked lackadaisical on defense for the majority of this game. They were giving up far too many uncontested shots to a team that is capable of making them.

The question is what is real? Do we believe that the first three quarters were a sign of trouble? Or do we trust that the dominant fourth quarter is who the Jazz really are? Once the Jazz closed the gap to start the fourth quarter, it appeared that the intensity level was raised on both ends of the court. They allowed only 13 points in the final period, and seven of those points came when the game was already out of reach for Denver.

I am confident the Jazz defense will be just fine. They didn’t play anybody close to the level of Denver in the preseason, and it may have simply taken us off guard. We’ll find out when we play another solid offensive team in the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.