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SALT LAKE CITY — And so it begins.
The NBA season, which is one of sports’ true marathons, began with a bang for the Utah Jazz Wednesday. There were so many new things for the Jazz, whether it be the pyrotechnics for the starting lineups or the new coach.
In spite of all the new wrinkles in Jazzland, the result unfortunately stayed consistent. Utah dropped its home opener for the second consecutive season, falling 104-93 to the Houston Rockets Wednesday.
The Rockets dominated the game in the paint, with center Dwight Howard scoring 22 points.
Jazz coach Quin Snyder, in his regular season debut with the squad, said the defensive effort by his team was mixed.
“Defensively, there was some things we’ve been good at doing, and we weren’t tonight,” said Snyder, whose Jazz allowed Houston to shoot 51.9 percent from 3-point range. “They’re going to hit some threes; there was a couple they hit early when we were on them. We’ve got to get more on them, and then there was a number of them as the game progressed where they were wide-open.”
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The Jazz held a 40-34 lead midway through the second quarter, on the back of inspired play from backups Rudy Gobert and Trevor Booker. However, Houston powered to a 58-50 lead, centering on the play of Howard.
Snyder said defending Howard is a struggle.
“It’s tough when (Howard’s) got the ball because they shoot it so aggressively from three, they beat you with the threes,” he said. “So, it’s hard to help. We’ve got some big guys that can bang with them, but it’s tough when you pick up an early foul (like Favors and Gobert did).
Utah trailed by as much as 13 in the third quarter, until the Jazz went on a 10-0 run to cut the Houston lead to three, 75-72, at the period’s end. However, Houston forced the young Utah roster into several turnovers to open the fourth quarter, as the Rockets rebuilt a double-digit lead they would never surrender.
Hayward, who scored eight points in the season debut, said it’s a matter of Utah learning how to handle close game situations.
“We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, so we climbed out of it by playing hard,” he said. “I think it was just one of those things where they hit a couple threes, and all of the sudden we’re back down 10 and momentum shifted back their way. Basketball is a game of runs, and we made our run. They made their’s right back at us.”
One of the bright spots of the night came in the second quarter, when rookie guard Dante Exum found Gobert for an alley-oop dunk.
Exum said he’s hopeful at building confidence, both personally and with his teammates.
“Getting that first shot was a real confidence boost for me,” he said. “I think (I need to) find my time when I can attack more, get into the paint and create for others. I found Rudy tonight, and I’m hoping to build that relationship with him more and find him a bit more.”
The Jazz travel to Dallas for a game with the Mavericks Thursday. Hayward said it will be important to put the pitfalls of this game behind.
“We didn’t play our best basketball (against Houston),” said Hayward, who made 3-of-11 shots. “It’s the first game for us, so hopefully we can pick it up. Good news is we play (Thursday), so we can have a quick turnaround.”
NOTE: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver viewed the Jazz-Rockets game in Salt Lake City, marking his first visit to the town as commissioner. Silver said seeing all of the teams in the league is important to him.
“The most enjoyable part of my job is coming to games and traveling around the league,” he said. “It’s fun getting together with the teams and organizations. Learning things from them, getting direct feedback … (and) just interacting generally with fans.”
Silver will be in Los Angeles Thursday for the Clippers game, in new owner Steve Ballmer’s first game in charge of the team.
