{"id":949173,"date":"2026-11-01T21:47:56","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T21:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/949173\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T21:47:56","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T21:47:56","slug":"3-takeaways-from-the-jazzs-halloween-horror-show-against-the-blazers-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/949173\/","title":{"rendered":"3 takeaways from the Jazz\u2019s Halloween horror show against the Blazers \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

I promise the Utah Jazz are trying to win games this season, even if it didn\u2019t look like it Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Utah suffered one of its worst performances of the young season in front of the Jazz faithful, falling 112-90 to the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center. <\/p>\n

The Jazz never really found their footing, as they trailed by double-digits for a majority of the afternoon and failed to put together a meaningful run to make things interesting.<\/p>\n

Maybe it was the early 1 p.m. start. Maybe it was Halloween festivities on the mind. Maybe it was simply a bad day at the office. Whatever the reason, there wasn\u2019t much to like about this one.<\/p>\n

Here are three takeaways from Utah\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n

A Halloween horror show from the opening tip<\/p>\n

The Jazz couldn\u2019t have gotten off to a much worse start.<\/p>\n

Utah opened the afternoon shooting just 3 of 14 from the field and watched Portland put together a 17-0 run in the first quarter. Even more surprising was that coach Will Hardy didn\u2019t call a timeout during the entire stretch.<\/p>\n

The Jazz eventually found some offense through their bench and managed to cut the deficit to nine points by the end of the first quarter, but the damage was already done.<\/p>\n

The second quarter wasn\u2019t much better. The Blazers opened with another 7-0 run, and Utah struggled to generate anything consistently on the offensive end.<\/p>\n

Before the game, Hardy acknowledged that his young players have been dealing with some stress and uncertainty as they try to establish themselves in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s sort of like an uncertainty of where they fit in the league,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cWe\u2019re very unproven, and I think that does lead to some anxiety in different moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also mentioned that some of the poor body language fans have seen comes from frustration when the work players put in during practice and film sessions doesn\u2019t immediately translate to wins.<\/p>\n

Saturday was a pretty clear example. There was a noticeable lack of energy throughout the game, whether it was the body language on the court or the quiet huddles during timeouts. <\/p>\n

The Jazz looked like a team that couldn\u2019t find an answer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 1 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) reacts during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 2 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) attempts to shoot the ball during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 3 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz guard Darryn Peterson (22) loses possession of the ball as he jumps up to attempt to shoot the ball during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 4 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) attempts to get the ball down the court during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 5 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) gains possession of the ball during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 6 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz players embrace after the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Utah Jazz during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 7 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers guard Vit Krejci (27) jumps up to shoot a basket during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 8 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz center Jaxson Hayes (11) reacts during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 9 of 24<\/p>\n

The Utah Jazz bear walks down the court in costume before an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 10 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) is introduced before an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 11 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Micah Nori coaches during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 12 of 24<\/p>\n

Dancers perform before an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 13 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) looks toward the ball during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 14 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (30) cheers from his seat during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 15 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) guards Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (8) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 16 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy coaches during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 17 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz guard Darryn Peterson (22) jumps up to attempt a basket during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 18 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) reacts during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 19 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) dribbles the ball down the court during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 20 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) and Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) go for the ball during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 21 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) is guarded by Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 22 of 24<\/p>\n

Utah Jazz fans raise their hands hoping for a free shirt during a t-shirt toss during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 23 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) runs the ball down the court during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 24 of 24<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers guard Sidy Cissoko (91) jumps up to score a basket during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News Turnovers and physicality continue to haunt the Jazz<\/p>\n

The Jazz have struggled to find consistent offense this season without center Jusuf Nurkic, and Saturday was another reminder of how important his presence is.<\/p>\n

Nurkic is arguably Utah\u2019s best passer, and his absence has put additional pressure on a young group of guards to create offense and get everyone involved.<\/p>\n

The Jazz had several stretches Saturday in which the ball movement disappeared, possessions ended with poor shots and Portland\u2019s defensive pressure made it difficult for Utah to even get into its halfcourt offense.<\/p>\n

Hardy actually addressed the team\u2019s turnover problems before the game, pointing out how quickly a few mistakes can derail an entire stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think turnovers as the game has gone on has hurt us,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cI think we\u2019re seeing pockets where it\u2019s three and four turnovers in, you know, five or six possessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

That problem showed up again Saturday afternoon. Utah finished with 20 turnovers, and the Blazers\u2019 physical defense consistently bothered the Jazz\u2019s ball handlers.<\/p>\n

After the game, Hardy noted the team\u2019s inability to take care of the ball continues to be a major problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ability to be solid with the ball is continuing to haunt us,\u201d Hardy said, \u201cand you couple that with a night where you can\u2019t make a 3.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Jazz shot poorly again from deep, going 11-40 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

But Hardy wasn\u2019t interested in blaming everything on poor shooting. He said Utah struggled with both its shot-making and its overall offensive execution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we played very good,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cI think the ball pressure bothered us, our screening wasn\u2019t very good, our ability to handle the ball pressure … that 48 minutes of offense, for sure, is not up to the standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, with the way the game was going, the Jazz did finish with more assists than turnovers, but 20 giveaways are difficult to overcome, particularly when the team is struggling to generate quality looks.<\/p>\n

The Jazz still have to figure out their defensive discipline<\/p>\n

This might be the most interesting takeaway from Saturday.<\/p>\n

Despite the lopsided score, Hardy actually felt his team defended well enough to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we guarded well enough to win the game,\u201d Hardy said.<\/p>\n

He pointed to Utah\u2019s ability to protect the paint and rebound as positives, but acknowledged that the team still has to clean up its fouling, particularly when defenders get their hands caught on opposing players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first half, the fouling was a little bit out of control,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cWe\u2019re not getting a bad whistle. … We\u2019re fouling.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an important distinction for a young team that is still learning how to defend at this level. The Jazz can\u2019t afford to give opponents easy trips to the free-throw line while trying to establish a defensive identity. <\/p>\n

Portland on Saturday shot 41 free throws, the most an opponent has went to the strip this season. The Blazers\u2019 two best players in Damian Lillard and Deni Avdija got to the paint at ease when they were attacking the rim.<\/p>\n

Hardy also pointed to Portland\u2019s physicality as a major reason for his team\u2019s offensive struggles. The Blazers\u2019 pressure disrupted the Jazz\u2019s rhythm, and Utah struggled to create and maintain advantages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need better screening, and then when we do have the advantage, we can\u2019t give it back,\u201d Hardy said.<\/p>\n

The Blazers built their advantage to as many as 26 points in the third quarter, and Utah never put together a serious run to get back into the game. They were outrebounded, outmuscled and outcoached.<\/p>\n

The Jazz are a young team, and Hardy knows there will be lessons from nights like Saturday, but learning from losses only matters if the team starts showing improvement.<\/p>\n

Saturday was a reminder that this team has plenty of work to do as it enters a 1-5 hole to start the season. <\/p>\n

Next up is a rematch against San Antonio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I promise the Utah Jazz are trying to win games this season, even if it didn\u2019t look like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":949174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,5872,85],"class_list":["post-949173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-news-feed-local","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}