Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets preview: Will the curse of former Jazzmen continue?

If the trend of former Utah Jazz players beating up on their old team continues, the Jazz better watch out for Paul Millsap and Trey Lyles of the Denver Nuggets.

To say the Utah Jazz have gotten off to an odd start so far this season would be a major understatement. One glance at their early schedule was enough to tell you that the beginning part of the year could result in a rough initial record. Therefore, while a 4-4 mark after eight games is disappointing, it isn’t actually all that surprising.

What is surprising, though, is the way that Utah has arrived to that record. They’ve suffered a loss in each of their home games, including two to the Memphis Grizzlies. While the Grizzlies figured to be much-improved thanks to the healthy return of Mike Conley, I don’t know that anyone expected Utah to struggle with them like they have.

Utah’s four wins have thus all come on the road, and some of them against impressive teams such as the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans. Of course, the Rockets are off to a slow start, and both teams were missing key stars when the Jazz faced them as well, meaning that even those victories were less than convincing.

What’s been perhaps the weirdest is how the Utah Jazz have been punched in the mouth by former teammates. In the home opener, it was Jonas Jerebko, the lone rotation player from a year ago who didn’t return to Salt Lake City. He finished the game with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, but more than that, he tipped in the game-winner to sink the Jazz in a thriller.

In the recent contest against Minnesota, Derrick Rose, who though he never suited up for the Jazz, was briefly acquired in the trade that sent Rodney Hood to Cleveland and brought in Jae Crowder, went off for a career-high 50 points. It was a stirring performance from Rose, but a disappointing evening in which Utah couldn’t get the stops necessary to win. With Jimmy Butler sitting out the contest, it was one the Jazz definitely should have won.

Last of all, in two contests against the Grizzlies, but especially the most recent one, former beleaguered Jazzman Shelvin Mack went off in a big way. His 4-of-7 night for 12 points in the prior contest was solid, but on Friday night, he put in 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from deep. Utah had no answer for him as he dialed in big shot after big shot to effectively sink the Jazz.

And that all leads us to today, Saturday, November 3rd, in which the Jazz are facing a few daunting circumstances. First off, they’ll be playing on the second night of a back-to-back, which is always bad in and of itself. But wait, it gets worse. That second consecutive game is forcing them to travel to Denver, where Utah typically struggles and has lost four straight bouts.

Not only that, but while the Jazz have struggled against the Denver Nuggets even when Denver has been so-so, this year, the Nuggets are off to an incredible start of 7-1, the second best record in the Western Conference. The Nuggets look like the real deal this year, and the Jazz will have to face them on the road in a place they struggle, on a back-to-back, and, oh yeah, it’s entirely possible that Donovan Mitchell will be out a second straight night.

His absence was notably missed against Memphis on Friday, and while the injury doesn’t appear too serious, until we get a final word on his status for Saturday, we’ll have to assume that he may sit yet another game out to continue to heal.

As bad as all that sounds, if recent trends are any indication, there may be another element entirely of the upcoming contest that should have Jazz fans worried. I’m speaking of the fact that they’ll be facing two former Jazzmen in the contest. Recently, former teammates have been out for blood. Jerebko, Rose and Mack all have gone ham on the Jazz. Should we be worried about Paul Millsap and Trey Lyles doing the same?

So far this year, Millsap isn’t off to an outrageous start in terms of statistics by his standards, but his 13 points on 46.8 percent shooting and 7.8 rebounds isn’t shabby at all. Not only that, but he’s fit in quite well with Nikola Jokic and has been a big reason why this red hot Denver team has been so dangerous. But the way things are going, who wouldn’t be surprised to see him bust out against his former team?

Then there’s Trey Lyles, who just so happens to be the Nuggets’ leading bench scorer with 9.9 points per contest. Those points aren’t coming on great efficiency, though, as Lyles is shooting just 38.5 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from deep. If he were to pick a game to break out of his slump, though, I wouldn’t be shocked to see it take place against the Utah Jazz.

There’s certainly some bad blood between the two parties considering how Lyles’ time in Utah played out and some comments he’s made since leaving, so I could definitely see him wanting to come out and beat up on his former team. I can guarantee that if Jazz fans had to choose a former player to go off on them in this upcoming bout, they’d go with Millsap ten times to one over Lyles. Lyles is one of the most unpopular former Jazzmen in the league, whereas Millsap is one of the most beloved.

Hopefully the Jazz can escape their recent trend of being bowled over by former members of the team, though it’s quite possible that either Millsap or Lyles could be due for a big game. However, the Jazz probably should be more concerned with the likes of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Gary Harris, who have all been spectacular thus far for the Nuggets. That trio forms a daunting group that has Denver rolling so far this year.

What’s been perhaps most surprising about the Denver Nuggets up to this point is their stellar D. Defense has long been an afterthought for the Nuggets, but early indications are such that they’ve put a renewed focus on it this year. They’re currently third in the league in defensive rating at 102.0, trailing just the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. They’re also fourth in the league in opponent points per game at just 103.6.

That’s bad news for a Jazz offense that has looked clunky for much of the season, especially if Donovan Mitchell is indeed unable to go. Not to mention, Denver’s defense has looked significantly stronger than Utah’s, as the Jazz are just 14th in defensive rating (107.9) and seventh in opponent points per game (109.4). Those aren’t necessarily horrible marks, but they’re a far cry from what we expect out of a typically daunting Jazz defense.

In truth, I had this game as a loss even before seeing what happened Friday night against Memphis, and before the Donovan Mitchell injury. If Mitchell plays, Utah’s chances obviously go up, but I still feel less than optimistic that they’ll win. If he sits out a second straight game, I don’t see any way that this struggling Jazz team gets past a daunting Nuggets team that is typically lights out on their home court.

Therefore, as much as it pains me to say it, I believe we’ll see the Utah Jazz slide below .500 for the first time on the season as they’ll go head-to-head with a Denver Nuggets team that is on the rise, playing surprisingly tough defense and has looked like one of the top teams in the West during the season’s early-going.

Prediction: Nuggets – 117, Jazz 108

This contest between the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets tips off at 7:00 PM MT from the Pepsi Center.