The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz at Sacramento Kings: Keys to finishing perfect in preseason

By Jared Woodcox

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 17: Garrett Temple #17 of the Sacramento Kings and Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz shake hands before the game on March 17, 2018 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 17: Garrett Temple #17 of the Sacramento Kings and Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz shake hands before the game on March 17, 2018 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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PORTLAND, OR – OCTOBER 7: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz shoots the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers during a pre-season game on October 7, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR – OCTOBER 7: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz shoots the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers during a pre-season game on October 7, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Key #2 – Don’t fight fire with fire, fight fire with defense

Surprising though it may be, in Utah’s pair of games against NBA talent (Toronto and Portland), not to mention for parts of the game against Adelaide, the Utah Jazz defense looked pretty subpar. They allowed their opponents easy looks at the basket and did a poor job of bringing the necessary intensity to stop their foes in their tracks.

Fortunately, and shockingly when considering the Jazz’s style in recent seasons, they’ve been able to still eke out victories by having a prolific offense. That’s right, Utah’s offense has been highly impressive as they’ve put up the most points per game of any squad in the league thus far, a whopping 121.8.

Of course, that won’t be maintained into the regular season and is quite skewed due to the pair of Australian squads the Jazz faced. However, as nice as their offensive outpouring has been in preseason, they need to instead focus on bringing their patented D this time around.

That’s especially true considering that the Kings have showed off some impressive offensive firepower in preseason as well. They’re currently sitting at sixth in the league in points per game with 113.8. Sure, that’s only been good enough to lead to a 2-2 record, but it means that in the season’s early-going, the Kings have found a way to score.

With such being the case, the Jazz shouldn’t hope to fight fire with fire and simply outscore the Kings. Instead, they should aim to maintain their offensive prowess, but more importantly, establish their defensive dominance and utilize that strength to halt Sacramento. Defense has been Utah’s calling card the past few seasons. In the final audition before regular season play, we need to see that in full force.

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