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

2. Scoring isn’t a problem

The most common question asked of the Jazz throughout the offseason was where they planned on replacing the 21.9 points per game they lost with Gordon Hayward‘s departure.

Rodney Hood was the man expected to make the leap and take on some of the load. In what we can now paint as a positive given the final result was a W, the Jazz scored enough points with Hood only contributing six points himself.

The Jazz ended the game with six players in double figures: Derrick Favors (14 points), Joe Ingles (11), Rudy Gobert (18), Joe Johnson (13) and Alec Burks (16), who all shooting over 50 percent from the field.

Burks’ 16 points came in just 15 minutes while Johnson’s 13 points all seemed to come when the team needed them to most. It was an impressive display and one many people close to the Jazz expect to be repeated throughout the season.

Ending up with 103 points for the game, the Jazz could have been even better had it not been for an awful first quarter. They weren’t short of good looks but the shots wouldn’t drop as they managed just 21 points. From there, 28, 29 and another 28 points were scored over the next three quarters.

Those numbers came against the second-worst defense in the NBA last year, but this solid first performance was the first step in putting to bed the idea this Jazz team doesn’t have enough scoring to compete.