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DENVER -- It’s a good thing there are 65 more games.
The Utah Jazz (0-1) are looking to put their 96-71 season- opening loss to the Lakers behind them as they take on the Nuggets (1-0) tonight in Denver.
“We have to continue to fight,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin told reporters after the game. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to stay together as a group of guys and continue to fight.”
The Jazz performance was the worst it's been in a season opener. As a team, the Jazz shot 32 percent from the field, low-lighted by the 2-for-16 performance of Al Jefferson. As for their 76 point effort, the number marks the lowest point total in a season opener — ever.
Related:
Jazz 4.0: Youth movement
Tuesday night was the premiere of Utah Jazz 4.0. The departure of free agent Andrei Kirilenko and the trade of Memo Okur were the final steps in an 18- month process closing out Utah Jazz 3.0.Paul Millsap was the lone bright spot for the Jazz scoring 18 points and grabbing eight boards off the bench. None of the Jazz starters even reached double digits in scoring.
As the Jazz continue to struggle to find consistency in the post D-will era, maybe they could look to tonight’s opponent as an example of how to be successful without a marquee player. The Nuggets roster is deep and loaded with talented players who have bought into coach George Karl’s system, which has allowed them to have continued success after trading away two of the team’s best players in Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups.
The Nuggets enter tonight’s game rolling after delivering a Texas-sized 115-93 beatdown of the defending champion Dallas Mavericks on Monday. Denver point guard Ty Lawson, who spent sleepless lockout nights shooting in a Lithuanian gym, came out with the hot hand hitting eight of his first nine shots en route to a 27-point night. Veteran guard and former Utah Ute Andre Miller and Al Harrington added 18 each. The Nuggets looked smooth and polished, seemingly scoring at will and frequently getting stops, taking advantage of a Mavs team that had played the night before.
For the Jazz, bouncing back, sticking to their game plan and of course hitting shots will be critical to their success against the Nuggets.
“It’s one game,” Corbin said of the blowout loss to the Lakers. "You can’t scrap everything because you lose one game.”
Nope, you can’t.
You can follow Jarrod on Twitter at @jarrodhiatt.
