Inside The Jazz

Jazz Perimeter Defense Sticks Out as Biggest Hole in Opener vs. Kings

The Utah Jazz had a few shortcomings in their opening night loss vs. the Sacramento Kings.

Jared Koch

Jazz Perimeter Defense Sticks Out as Biggest Hole in Opener vs. Kings
Jazz Perimeter Defense Sticks Out as Biggest Hole in Opener vs. Kings /
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As the Utah Jazz opened the 2023-24 NBA season on Wednesday night, things did not go quite as planned in their first game against the Sacramento Kings. In a 114-130 loss, the Jazz had a collection of mishaps that derailed the outcome of this game early on in the night.

However, the biggest of those issues might just come from the defensive ability of this team, specifically when defending the three-point line. The Kings managed to light it up from range, making 19 shots from beyond the arc on the night. F Harrison Barnes led the way, making five of his seven threes en route to a team-high 33 points.

The Kings also found some impact on the outside with two of their summer additions in G Chris Duarte and F Sasha Vezenkov. Both newcomers seemed to have little difficulty adjusting to their new teams as they shot a combined five of nine shots from three.

If it is not apparent already, the Jazz will have to do much better than letting up 130 points in a game to find some wins on their record, especially when defending the three-point line. The zone defense HC Will Hardy opened the season with proved to be notably disoriented, ultimately leading to five Kings players making over two threes on the night.

A lingering concern for the Jazz across the offseason hinged upon the lack of defensive-centric players this team possessed. While many guys on the roster can put the ball on the floor and in the basket, having too many one-dimensional players that do not bring value on the other end makes getting stops harder to come by.

Luckily, it is extremely early in the season, so we can't overreact to such a small sample size. Moving through a few growing pains with this young core that is adding new pieces is the expectation for the Jazz's first game of the season. Still, finding ways to generate consistent stops will have to be a focal point for this team as we progress through the year.

The Jazz will take on the Los Angeles Clippers for their next game of the year come Friday, October 27th at 7:30 PM MT in the Delta Center with the opportunity to get their first win of the season. 

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Jared Koch
JARED KOCH

Jared Koch is the Associate Editor of The Frozen Rope — SI.com's team website covering the Utah Jazz. He's covered the NBA and NFL for the past two years, also being the Managing Editor of Inside The Kings — SI.com's team website covering the Sacramento Kings.

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