Utah Jazz have been blah on the court, but they’re coming up aces off it

Despite the on-court struggles of the Utah Jazz during the early 2018-19 season, the team is still hitting the right notes off the hardwood.

So, if you were looking for the Utah Jazz to explode out of the gate and announce themselves as the biggest thing to hit the Association since Gheorghe Muresan, well, you’re probably still looking. In fact, things have been downright grim at times for the boys in blue (green, and gold).

Seriously — the team is just 4-6 on the year, winless at home and its vaunted, Rudy Gobert-led defense is just 16th league-wide in team D-rating, giving up nearly 110 points per 100 possessions.

Also: multiple players, including Donovan Mitchell, have missed games due to injury, Ricky Rubio is shooting under 33 percent from the floor and the team has made just 62 percent of its foul shots over the last four games.

Obviously, those aren’t positive developments and, on the whole, the 2018-19 Jazz experience has been blah at best.

Having said that, the Jazz continue to hit all the right notes away from the court. And the good vibes were in full effect during the off day on Tuesday.

Forward Georges Niang, who has actually been one of the season’s bright spots on the floor, did his part off of it by helping low-income families tip-off the holiday season with a turkey giveaway at Utah Community Action Head Start.

Check it out —

Head Start’s mission is to provide health, education and promote self-sufficiency for children and families facing adversity.

Elsewhere, Rubio was at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, visiting patients and delivering Jazz tickets for his foundation’s One Month, one Cause initiative.

November’s cause is lung cancer; a cause very close to Rubio’s heart. His mother, Tona Vives, lost her battle with the disease in 2016 despite being a non-smoker. Since then, the Jazz point-man has been an active force in the fight against cancer.

While at Huntsman, Rubio and the 5 For The Fight Team also took the time to learn about some of the latest developments and lung cancer research from University of Utah cancer biologist Trudy Oliver.

Clearly, the team has been somewhat out of tune on the hardwood. And things won’t get much easier as dates with the Boston Celtics (twice), Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers loom. Regardless, the Jazz band continues to come up aces away from the hustle and bustle of the NBA grind.

At the least, they’ve got some good karma going. I say good on ’em.