Utah Jazz: 3 takeaways from the 2017-18 season opener

For 24 minutes, it looked like the Utah Jazz doubters were right, but then their defense kicked in and they cruised to a 103-96 win over the Denver Nuggets.

The Utah Jazz did their best to lose their 2017-18 NBA season opener before a 28-13 fourth quarter earned them a 103-96 win over the Denver Nuggets. It wasn’t a pretty 48 minutes, but in what might be a common theme this season, they fought hard for a win that had seemed out of reach earlier in the night.

In a strange start to the game, the Jazz named Rodney Hood to start only to have him walk off the court seconds before tip-off. With what turned out to be gastric distress, rookie Donovan Mitchell was thrust into the starting lineup and the Jazz, in turn, started off a little slow.

The offense was running as it should early, but it wasn’t translating into points. Denver on the other hand, couldn’t miss. The Nuggets lit it up from beyond the arc to build a 15-point first half lead, while Utah looked out of sorts.

Thankfully, the Jazz turned up to play the second half to win the second 24 minutes by a 57-38 margin and answer many of the questions that had people scratching their heads over the break. Here are three takeaways from an up-and-down season opener for the Jazz.