Utah Jazz blocked 12 shots en route to victory over Sacramento Kings

Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz's 117-114 win over the Sacramento Kings from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. This was more or less a real game!

Across all sports, we all know what to expect from pre-season at this point. There will be significantly more substitutions than you normally would. Most of the team's best players are unlikely to play most of the game. There are ups and downs with 100% effort, sometimes it just depends on whether the competitive juices kick in or if the players treat it as cardio.

The other Jazz preseason games were fairly traditional, low-energy preseason affairs. But tonight?

• The Kings played 36 minutes or more against four starters: De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and DeMar DeRozan. These players didn't average 36 minutes a night in the regular season last year, let alone in the preseason.

• Jazz, on the other hand, was a bit more conservative. But Lauri Markkanen still played 32.5 minutes and Keyonte George nearly 30. Both teams used 10-man rotations.

• The effort and physicality was quite high. There were numerous hand checks, which were approved by the officers. The defensive glass was extremely physical. In the transition games, both teams tried to recover and fend off some possible attacks.

The result was a real treat for the fans who came tonight. I always thought it was a bit lame that teams charge regular season rates for preseason games in season ticket packages, but this game was definitely worth the price of admission.

We also learned a few things about the Jazz's planned rotation for the regular season. Kyle Filipowski, Drew Eubanks, Svi Mykhailiuk and Johnny Juzang are missing. Patty Mills played backup point guard, but probably only because Isaiah Collier is injured.

Walker Kessler played 28 minutes while John Collins played 20, a win for the Jazz's youth. On the other hand, Jordan Clarkson played 24 minutes while Brice Sensabaugh played 16 minutes, a win for the veterans.

And most notably, while Taylor Hendricks started the game (and played reasonably well), Cody Williams was picked to finish it. I saw the same thing happen throughout the regular season.

2. Complete defensive plays with a block

I think one of the Jazz's biggest defensive problems last year was finishing their defensive possessions – I just don't think they did a great job of defending the shots they took last year. Based solely on the type of shots they allowed last season, the Jazz should have finished 9th in the league in opponents' effective field goal percentage, according to CleaningTheGlass; Unfortunately, they finished 28th.

So I think it was an encouraging sign that they got 12 blocks in just one game tonight.

George didn't have a good rookie season defensively. Here he is beaten but works very hard to get back into the game and ends up blocking the shot.

Same here with Clarkson: He left the back door behind him, but look at the tremendous effort that went into getting back in and disrupting that alley-oop.

And then that in itself is pretty impressive defense from Markkanen: he backs up in transition, stays in front of an elite scorer, and then finishes the play with the block at the rim.

I think there have been some encouraging signs for the Jazz defense this preseason. Remember, a season ago they were either last or second to last in the league defensively, depending on which stat you look at. In the meaningless preseason they were 16th so far. Visually, it just wasn't that big of a tire fire.

3. Markkanen is unable to consistently exploit inconsistencies

The Kings' defensive strategy largely involved switching Markkanen's pick-and-rolls, which meant there were plenty of possessions where he went up against someone smaller: 6-0 Jordan McLaughlin, 6-3 De'Aaron Fox or 6-3 6 Keon Ellis.

There was one good thing: Markkanen shot ten free throws on those occasions and hit all ten. But he also turned the ball over five times, which is probably more effective overall. Here they are all for those interested in videos:

Of course, the defense here can be physical, often with both arms in Markkanen's body. Technically it is a foul. But the truth is that NBA officials often don't call this contact, and Markkanen can and should do more to maintain control of the ball on these occasions.

Markkanen is very, very obviously the Jazz's best player, and the ability to consistently convert those opportunities into points is the next big step in his development. It will also be a big factor in how good the Jazz are in critical situations, as they will rely on him frequently throughout games.

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