The Utah Jazz’s first NBA Cup game of the season only sharpened the same problem that has followed them through the opening stretch: they keep losing the possession battle, and it keeps costing them.
Friday night’s 112-100 loss to the Dallas Mavericks was another example. Utah had stretches that looked encouraging enough, but the mistakes piled up again, and the final result followed the same script as much of this season has already.
The numbers told the story. The Jazz turned it over 21 times, while Dallas had 15.
Utah also managed just eight offensive rebounds compared with 21 for the Mavericks, a gap that gave Dallas 11 more shots. Rookie Morez Johnson Jr. alone grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in 24 minutes.
That kind of imbalance is a bad place to live in the NBA, and it has helped drag Utah to a 1-8 start.
Through nine games, the Jazz rank 26th in the league in field goal attempts per game, 27th in turnovers, and 15th in offensive rebounding. The issues have been there all season, and they showed up again against Dallas in a way that was hard to ignore.
After the game, head coach Will Hardy pointed directly at the possession battle.
"The possession battle was out of hand today," Hardy said. "We had 21 turnovers, and they had 21 offensive rebounds.
Defensive rebounding has been a calling card for us all year. I thought our physicality on the glass needs to be higher; we need everyone to participate."
He also addressed the giveaways, which have become a stubborn issue for this roster.
"The turnovers are a hard issue to diagnose. There's a variety of things going on, but we've got to fight for our space, and we have to be solid with the ball. We need to recognize the situations that we are in and try to get off it a little bit earlier."
This isn’t a new headache for Utah. Since Hardy took over as head coach in 2022, the Jazz have lived in the bottom five of the NBA in turnovers per game.
The difference this year was supposed to be that the growing pains would start to fade. The guards and other young players had another season under their belts, and the expectation was that Utah would finally start turning some of those close losses into wins.
Instead, the early returns have looked a lot like the past. The turnovers haven’t improved in any meaningful way, and the Jazz are paying for it on the scoreboard.
There is still plenty of season left, and the roster should get a boost when Jusuf Nurkic and Jaren Jackson Jr. return to full health. That could help the offense and the rebounding numbers.
But after nine games, the picture is rough. The Jazz have a long list of things to clean up, and their problems in the possession battle sit near the top of it.
In Other News...
Svi Mykhailiuks Rough Start Is Creating A Jazz Rotation Problem
The early-season grind has already forced Will Hardy to keep tinkering with his rotation, and the Jazz have not had much margin for error while playing through injuries to key frontcourt pieces Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic. In that kind of environment, every bench spot matters a little more, and Svi Mykhailiuks uneven start has become one of the more awkward issues on a team that is already trying to find traction after opening 1-8.
Mykhailiuk was brought in to help stabilize the perimeter, but the offense has not come around and the defensive fit has been just as shaky. Utah is weighing whether to trim his minutes and lean on other options for now, a reminder that on a roster searching for answers, even one cold stretch can ripple through the rest of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Lauri Markkanen Clouds Jazz Hopes To Snap This Brutal Skid
The Jazz head into their matchup with the Timberwolves still searching for a way out of a seven-game losing streak, and the timing is not ideal with Lauri Markkanen on the injury report. Utah has leaned on him early this season, with the forward appearing in eight of nine games and providing steady scoring and rebounding production, but his availability now hangs in the balance as the team tries to steady itself.
Markkanen is listed as questionable because of a right wrist sprain, the same issue that has already interrupted his season. For a Jazz team trying to stop the slide and get back on track, his status looms large because so much of the offense flows through him when he is on the floor, and Utah will be watching closely before tipoff to see whether it can count on one of its most important pieces. [Read more 🡒]
Darryn Peterson Gives Jazz Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Darryn Petersons latest outing offered a reminder of why the Jazz are paying close attention to his rookie season. In a loss to Dallas, he put together one of his more complete performances, scoring 21 points and adding impact plays across the floor as Utah continued to search for steadier footing. For a team trying to build something more durable, nights like this matter because they hint at a player who is starting to look more settled in the NBA game.
Peterson said afterward that the difference has come from feeling more comfortable with his role, and he credited coach Will Hardy for pushing him along the way. That kind of growth is exactly what the Jazz want to see from a young cornerstone, especially when the results around him are still uneven. The broader question now is whether this version of Peterson can become the kind of consistent presence Utah can lean on as the future comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]