The Jazz beat the Spurs 119-109 on Monday night in front of 15,495 at the Delta Center. All five starters scored in double figures, seven players did overall, and Utah moved to 2-1 in the preseason.
Now the asterisk. San Antonio didn't play Victor Wembanyama, De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell, Tobias Harris, or Carter Bryant. The Jazz beat a Spurs team with Jordan McLaughlin running the point.
So we're not grading the win. We're grading the rotation, because for the first time this preseason, Will Hardy looked like he was showing us one.
Who the Spurs left at home
Some of it was injuries: Fox (hip), Bryant (ankle), Harris (calf), and Jayden Quaintance (knee rehab) were all banged up. But the rest was planned before the preseason started, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson explained it after the game:
"Just management in terms of we got five games every other day and had a good practice this morning. And so just trying to continue to get into in-season game shape as best we can, which is a little bit of a balancing act, and give some opportunities for other guys that have earned it."
Totally fair. It just means, as SLC Dunk's Calvin Barrett put it, that "the first half could have been a measuring stick for an upstart Jazz roster" and wasn't. A fan in the postgame thread said the same thing more simply: "Would have preferred to see the Spurs starters out there to get a better sense of how guys stack up but nice performances overall."
On the Jazz side, Jusuf Nurkić (foot, out at least four weeks), Kyle Filipowski (back), and two-way forward Blake Hinson (adductor) sat, per Jazz On SI. Brice Sensabaugh made his preseason debut after missing two games with a hip issue.
The nine
Hardy played nine guys in the first half. Every starter except Darryn Peterson was done at halftime, and Josh Okogie, Josh Green, and Mo Bamba only came in after the break.
| Player | Min | Pts | Reb | Ast | Stl | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darryn Peterson | 24:25 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 1 | +9 |
| Ace Bailey | 23:35 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | +14 |
| Isaiah Collier | 21:40 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 5 | +14 |
| Svi Mykhailiuk | 19:05 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | +18 |
| Lauri Markkanen | 18:56 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +3 |
| Jaren Jackson Jr. | 17:50 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 1 | +12 |
| Keyonte George | 16:20 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | +7 |
| Brice Sensabaugh | 15:02 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | +7 |
| Jaxson Hayes | 14:57 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
Box score via NBA.com.
Hayes started at center with Markkanen, Jackson, Peterson, and George. Then, as Jazz radio voice David Locke pointed out on the Locked On Jazz postcast, Bailey came in early for Hayes, and the Jazz played Jackson at the 5 with Markkanen, Peterson, George, and Bailey. That's the group Barrett calls the "Death Lineup": the five most talented players on the roster, on the floor together, no traditional center.
Hardy told Locke before the game how he's thinking about all those mouths to feed. As Locke read it back on the show:
"I will guide them, but I don't want to define them. There's a human element. Everyone is going to have to sacrifice."
He finished with a warning: "I expect we have some clunkiness early."
Our take: a nine-man rotation with no Nurkić looks a lot like this one, and we like it. The surprise is how firmly Collier, Mykhailiuk, and Sensabaugh are in it ahead of Okogie and Green. Locke thinks the two Joshes will "probably beat some people out as the year goes on," and he may be right. But in October, Hardy is telling us the backup point guard job is Collier's.
Ace Bailey's best box score had six points in it
Bailey went 3-of-8 for 6 points. He also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals, and the Jazz were +14 with him on the floor. It was the best game he's played this preseason, and the scoring had nothing to do with it.
Hardy noticed, per Krysyan Edler of the Deseret News:
"He's turning the guy with the ball multiple times, and then you see him use his length to get some of those deflections on ball where he really isn't reaching. He's keeping his feet moving and keeping his defensive posture while sticking his arm out. He's not lunging for the ball."
Hardy also said Bailey's conditioning has him "at a way different level than he was last year." And Bailey sounds like someone who has made peace with what his job is right now:
"Offense is going to come. I'm not worried about the offensive end. I mean, I can score. It's just mainly just focused on the defensive end, just being the two-way player we need."
The game thread was all over it ("Ace is a one man cleanup crew and I love it"), and so was Jazz radio analyst Ron Boone, who said on the postcast that if Bailey "plays defense, he'll play 30 this year."
Our take: after the Nuggets rematch we said Ace's defense was the most consistent thing on this roster and that it's how he earns 30 minutes a night. Three games in, we're even more sure. The jumper will come and go. Hands, length, and feet don't have slumps.
Collier is making this hard to ignore
Collier had 11 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals (a game high) in 21:40, and the Jazz were +14 with him on the floor. As a team, Utah had 18 steals.
Hardy, per the Deseret News:
"(Collier) is an incredibly gifted athlete. He has really good instincts. The ability to close space. I think his — gambling's the wrong term — but he's doing it in the appropriate way right now. He's picking his spots of when to go for those steals, shoot in the gap."
Fans are buying in. From the postgame thread: "Collier's vision has quietly been one of the brighter spots so far, if the jumper starts falling consistently he could really pop." And from the game thread, the best description we've seen of him: "Collier is like if Westbrook was a role player. So damn fast and strong."
The caveat: 3 turnovers, and a couple of lobs to Hayes that went nowhere. Barrett noted the timing with Hayes is still off, and Hayes owned it in his halftime interview: "We're all just getting used to playing with each other."
Jaren Jackson Jr. keeps surprising people
Jackson had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 17:50, all in the first half, including a dunk right on Luke Kornet. The Jazz's X account summed up his half in three words and an emoji.
Locke said on the postcast that a longtime NBA friend told him at dinner he'd never liked Jackson because "he settles." Locke's answer is the most encouraging thing anyone has said about JJJ this month:
"We're not seeing him settle at all in this offense. We are seeing him put it down, power to the basket, getting that little jump hook on the baseline, or just overpowering guys."
The catch: five fouls, all before halftime. Sensabaugh had five too, in 15 minutes. The Jazz finished with 29 fouls, the Spurs went 24-of-33 from the line, and the second quarter alone had 38 combined free throw attempts, per the Jazz's recap. Hardy, per the Deseret News: "That second quarter has got to be cleaned up."
Our take: last week we asked for fewer than 30 fouls. Technically, they delivered. Barely. That's two straight games of foul trouble for Jackson, and the Jazz can't play the Death Lineup if their center is sitting with five.
Peterson: quiet half, loud quarter
Peterson led the Jazz again with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, plus 5 assists (tied with Collier for the team high) and one turnover. It came in two pieces. He was 1-for-5 in the first half, per SLC Dunk. Then, as the only starter who played after halftime, he had 10 points and three assists in the third quarter, per the Jazz's recap.
Boone saw something worth watching: Peterson "kind of deferring a little bit" to George early, bringing the ball up and handing it right to him. The two agreed he "has not looked comfortable in the first quarter yet." Fans saw it too ("DP looks a lot better as number 1 option in the second unit"), along with some of the best defense he's played: "He had quick hands, defended bigger guys at times, and had good timing on help defense."
Our take: we said to let him cook, and that still stands. Being the fourth option next to Markkanen, Jackson, and George is a different job from being the guy, and he's 19 and three games in. Mo Bamba called Hardy's offense "elaborate" in his postgame interview with Locke. Learning where your shots come from in an elaborate offense takes more than a week.
What the Spurs saw
The San Antonio side was mostly about its own rookie. Tarris Reed Jr. had 17 rebounds (8 offensive) and 4 steals in 24 minutes, and Orsborn reached for a Rodman comparison. Johnson, per the Express-News:
"Rebounding is one of those things where you don't really get free ones, so if you go get 17 of them, that means you're working."
That one stings a little from our side. The Spurs had 13 offensive rebounds to the Jazz's 9, and Reed had 8 by himself. One fan in the game thread summed it up: "I am concerned about the rebounding." With Nurkić out four weeks and the Jazz playing JJJ at center, this is the thing to watch.
San Antonio also got 25 points from Ja'Kobi Gillespie, 15 of them in the fourth, which is how a 99-78 lead after three became a 10-point final. The Jazz's end-of-bench group was outscored by 13 in the last seven minutes. The Spurs fell to 0-3.
What we're watching Friday
The Jazz close the preseason Friday at Phoenix (8 p.m. MT). Locke expects them to play it "pretty much close to full bore," and the regular season opens Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Memphis. Check the full schedule.
- Is the nine the nine? Same starters, same bench order, same Death Lineup minutes?
- Jackson under five fouls. He can't anchor anything from the bench.
- The defensive glass. Phoenix will have its big men in the game. San Antonio's backups got 13 offensive boards.
- Peterson in the first quarter. Can he be aggressive next to George instead of deferring?
The Spurs gave us a scrimmage. Hardy used it to tell us who he trusts.
Take note.
Sources: Utah Jazz / NBA.com, Deseret News, SLC Dunk via Yahoo Sports, Locked On Jazz postcast, Bleacher Report, Jazz On SI, San Antonio Express-News (pregame), @utahjazz on X, and the r/UtahJazz game and postgame threads. Box score via NBA.com.