Uh oh, Utah forgot to flip the 'try to win' switch

Reactions to all 11 Wednesday games.

The Last Day of Pompeii; Karl Bryullov; 1830-33

Reactions to all 11 Wednesday games.

Good morning. Reminder: it's Free Preview Week, so this newsletter is unlocked for everyone. Let's basketball.

Every year, there's a team that appears likely to be good but falls on its face in the season opener and gets off to a slow start. Last year, it was the L.A. Clippers, who got smoked in their opener against the tanking Utah Jazz. The Clippers went on to have one of the weirdest seasons in memory: starting the year 6-21, making Chris Paul broadly sympathetic but cutting him unceremoniously during his farewell tour in the middle of a road trip, trading James Harden, trading Ivica Zubac, getting hit with the most severe team punishment in NBA history.

None of that is going to happen to this year's candidate for the "uh, was that loss an omen of terrible things to come?" but it's all worth noting. Because the Utah Jazz, ready to win after a few years of unabashed tanking, might have caught Sad Trombone Season Opener Syndrome from the Clippers.

The most telling symptom of Sad Trombone Season Opener Syndrome? The phrase "standing ovation for Ty Jerome."

Defense was going to be what potentially held Utah back this season. But giving up 45 to Ty Jerome in the opener is such a flashing warning signal that it makes one ponder if the defense isn't so bad that it more than holds Utah back, and makes them nonviable. The shotmaking was off the charts, and no one else on Memphis went crazy (Jerami Grant and G.G. Jackson scored well off the bench, Jaylen Wells hit open shots). Maybe Game 2 looks a lot different for the Jazz defense.

But Will Hardy tried everything after Jerome dazed and dizzied Keyonte George and Darryn Peterson. Kyle Filipkowski and Jaren Jackson Jr. had no chance on switches. (Surprise surprise: JJJ fouled out in 28 minutes. Red flag alert.) Ace Bailey and Josh Okogie couldn't keep up. The Jazz defense made Ty Jerome look like Kyrie Irving.

It'd have been a little more comforting if Utah, built around its offense, had been able to score on Memphis. But they couldn't. George was efficient, and both Bailey and Svi Mykhailiuk had nice offensive performances off the bench. JJJ had five turnovers, Lauri Markkanen shot 4/13 from the floor (the 13 is as big a problem as the 4), Peterson played like a 19-year-old and Jaxson Hayes, starting for the injured Jusuf Nurkic, is a total nothing on offense. (He's almost a nothing on defense, too: he had six blocks but was a team worst -27 in 26 minutes. Play smaller! Make the 6'10 dude making $49 million play center! Bring in Chuck Hayes, he could still pull 7 rebounds a game today!)

The Jazz have to learn how they are going to win games. That was as discouraging a start to that process as one can imagine.

Scores

Hawks 132, Magic 125 – Competitive effort from both teams, credit Orlando for fighting back after falling behind by 14 in the third. Atlanta had too much juice in the fourth and Orlando went cold (1/12 from deep in the final period).

Quin Snyder played a relatively tight rotation (nine players) and interestingly, Aaron Wiggins was No. 2 on the team in minutes played with 32 (behind just Dyson Daniels with 34).

Jalen Johnson and Paolo Banchero (who was excellent, by the way) had some words at the buzzer. We are monitoring the situation.

Bucks 116, Wizards 128 – A.J. Dybantsa was a scratch due to a sore ankle, which is disappointing. But Anthony Davis made up for it.

That's the multi-level, tough offense you'd hope to get from AD. The Bucks fought hard, and the Wizards are going to be a work in progress even with AD and Trae Young on the court. But this is a good start.

Encouraging: Bilal Coulibaly, starting for the Wiz, with four steals and two blocks.

Gary Trent Jr.: DNP-Coach's Decision. Uhh ... can someone submit this as evidence in the NBA's cap circumvention investigation? And maybe Jon Horst needs to talk to Taylor Jenkins?

Timberwolves 131, Heat 106 – Anthony Edwards and LaMelo combined to go 14 of 30 from deep. That's a lot of three-point attempts and a lot of makes. As such, it's hard to know what to take from this result for either team given that threes are high-variance shots. I suppose one takeaway is that the Wolves guards really do appear to have the greenest light of all time.

Ant finished with 45. Another takeaway: this dude is really, really good.

As importantly, Minnesota's defense held up with Ball and Jonathan Kuminga in the starting five. Giannis Antetokounmpo did Giannis things (35 points on 13/19 shooting) but Miami didn't get many clean looks from the perimeter, made few of the ones they did get and didn't get into the open court (in part because they kept taking the ball out of the net).

Hornets 110, Nets 103 – Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle took just under half of the Nets' field goal attempts (39 of 80) and just over half of the free throw attempts (13 of 25), plus a third of the team's turnovers and assists. And you know what? It was pretty effective! Brooklyn lost this game off the bench.

Good start for Charlotte without Kon Knueppel and Coby White. You just want to tread water until they get back for this season to not turn into a nightmare. Beating the Nets in Brooklyn counts.

Bulls 92, Raptors 135 – Dear Caleb Wilson: we love you, but we must put it in print because it happened and speaking truth is important.

Caleb Wilson was a -45 in 32 minutes in his NBA debut.

The Raptors just totally beat the Bulls' asses. Nothing fancy or exotic. They just drilled them.

They might do that a lot this season. The Bulls might experience that a lot this season.

Pacers 123, Pelicans 120 – A nice offensive debut from Indiana on the road, with Pascal Siakam putting up 30, Tyrese Haliburton playing long minutes (34) and putting up an efficient 23-12 and Ivica Zubac getting four offensive rebounds. Zu did almost cough up the game as he let Yves Missi steal a rebound from him with New Orleans down three with six seconds left, and then after the Zion Williamson miss, Zu missed both free throws to give the Pels one last chance.

The game was a moment of beautiful catharsis for Hali.

Good effort from New Orleans, who had Jeremiah Fears starting alongside Dejounte Murray and Herb Jones coming off the bench. The Pelicans are going to win some games. If the rotation holds, Joe Dumars' phones are going to be ringing off the hook for Jones.

Jazz 103, Grizzlies 123

Mavericks 110, Rockets 128 – Business-like dispatch from Houston, who got 30 from Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. (You have my attention, JSJ.) Cooper Flagg was excellent for Dallas. With no offense to KD, Flagg is going to be the best player in a lot of games he plays this season.

The issue is whether the team around him can keep up. Hard to gauge in the season opener against a superior team. Dusty May played 10 players at least five minutes in the first half. You wonder how long it will take to sort out a rotation with such an odd, big roster.

Warriors 105, Lakers 127 – Memo to rookies everywhere, courtesy of Yaxel Lendeborg: do not under any circumstances talk s--t to Luka Doncic midgame.

And then Yaxel doubled down post-game. Oh no! You have to stop touching the stove, man!

At least that's some very funny, entertaining self-immolation.

Walker Kessler went 12/12 from the floor in his debut. He looked six inches taller than every Warrior. He might have been. Ten of his makes were dunks.

Shaq dubbed him "Milk Chamberlain" after the game. The Big Nicknamer strikes again.

Suns 83, Blazers 124 – Look, I predicted the Suns would miss the postseason. But not like this!

Yes, the Blazers started the game 21-0. (Do you believe in omens? The Suns didn't score until Miles Bridges was subbed out of the game.) That run took up almost exactly six minutes – half of the first quarter. Phoenix had 10 possessions in that span: eight missed field goals (no offensive rebounds), two turnovers. Against a team with a first-game-back Damian Lillard and the first-official-game-in-Portland Ja Morant in the backcourt. Meanwhile, the Blazers were having an absolute blast. Dame just looks right in this uniform and arena. And never underestimate the power of a good first impression to boost everyone's confidence.

The Blazers led the Suns by 52 in the first game of the season! Can the Suns and Jazz get together to share notes?

Kings 96, Clippers 121 – How many games do you think the Clippers will win by 25 points this season? Before you answer that, let me remind you that the Clippers play the Kings at least three more times.

Darius Acuff Jr. took 24 shots in his NBA debut. He made five. Keaton Wagler instead came off the bench behind Darius Garland (who was the best player on the floor, 30 points on 11/19 shooting). Wagler took just eight shots in 28 minutes, and made only four. Five is more than four. Advantage Acuff?

I can't believe I'm 1/82nd into this team.