Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
NEW ORLEANS — About three weeks ago, the Utah Jazz landed in Salt Lake City in the early hours of the morning after being routed by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The loss was the team's fifth defeat in its last six games, and the travel schedule wasn't about to lighten up. The game against the Thunder was the first of a three-game-in-four-nights run — all of which were in different cities.
Normally, the non-game days in such stretches are automatic days off; not this time. Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy called a practice.
The logic was simple: The team needed as much practice as it could get; rest could wait.
"I think the main thing is probably just communication," Kris Dunn said after that practice on Dec. 12. "We've got a young group. Defensively, we've got to communicate and make sure we're on the same page. Then offensively, the same thing. I think once we get on the same page things will go more smoothly."
Two weeks later, the Jazz are once again returning home after a loss — Utah fell to New Orleans 112-105 Thursday at Smoothie King Center — but the feeling around the team has completely changed.
The Jazz have gone 6-3 since that surprise practice, including winning four of the last seven on the road.
"We've been playing much better basketball in the last three weeks than at the beginning of the season," Hardy said. "I do think our team is trending in the right direction."
Over the last nine games, the Jazz have the seventh-best record in the league and the 11th-best net rating. The ball is moving, there are longer and longer periods of capable defense, and it's even been aesthetically pleasing. The Jazz haven't morphed into a contender — not anywhere close — but they do look like a competent team.
And after some trying stretches of games this season, that's a start.
"I think, overall, we just have a different presence about us right now as a team," Hardy said. "I see a team every day that's preparing to win — the way they carry themselves at practice and shoot around. The way they prepare for these games, the way they walk onto the floor, they really do think they could win every night."
Even in Thursday's loss, that belief showed up.
Utah trailed by 10 with 6:01 left in the game, but a quick run brought them right back into the game. Collin Sexton and Dunn hit back-to-back 3s, and then Dunn found Walker Kessler down low for an uncontested dunk. Just like that, it was a 1-point game.
New Orleans made its final five shots — including three 3-pointers — to ultimately sink the Jazz, but it's not hard to imagine the team of three weeks ago letting go of the rope much sooner.
"Tonight was tough. Overall, though, it's been a good road trip," Hardy said. "I want the team to feel upset about losing for sure tonight, but overall to feel pretty good about where they're at as a team."
So is it sustainable?
The Jazz likely won't win at a 66% percent clip for the rest of the season. But the ball movement and defensive effort should be able to stick around, even as the schedule gets more difficult.
In any case, we'll soon find out. Over the next two weeks, the Jazz will play Miami, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Denver. That stretch will show if there has been real improvement or just a two-week blip. But right now, there is a newfound confidence coming from the Jazz.
"I think everybody's comfortable with how we're playing, how we would like to play," Hardy said. "There's not an anxiety about getting off the ball like it's not going to come back to you. I think everybody feels like we're all just trying to make the right play and find open shots for our team. And that's led to more activity defensively."
To use Dunn's words, they're finally on the same page.
