Jazz Defense
How about the last 16 minutes of that game?! Utah’s 25-4 run and the lock-down defense that went with it were absolutely incredible to behold. The Jazz weren’t just making stops, they were forcing turnovers and getting points off of them seemingly at will. If Utah can find a way to harness the defensive intensity they had for that stretch for the majority of their games, they are going to grind teams down like none other.
Not to mention, the Jazz forced a whopping 22 turnovers which led to 31 points. That was an area they actually struggled in last year, so let’s hope this trend continues, because it will simply make their offense better, too.
Thabo Sefolosha (+25, 2 steals) and Ekpe Udoh (+24, 3 steals) were FANTASTIC on the defensive end in the second half. They changed things.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) October 19, 2017
Teamwork
For better or for worse, the Jazz don’t have an obvious go-to scoring option. Yes, Joe Johnson will always be relied upon in clutch situations, Rodney Hood will hopefully turn into such an offensive weapon and believe it or not Alec Burks looked like quite the possible candidate, but none of those guys will be exactly what Gordon Hayward was last year.
But in a lot of ways, that makes for an extremely exciting brand of basketball. Utah’s ball movement, which led to 28 assists and six guys finishing in double figures, was impressive to watch. The fact that this team can hurt opponents in so many ways night in and night out is what’s going help them win a lot of games.