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Portland • The first five minutes of the first preseason game were great for the Utah Jazz. Shots were falling, defensive stops were aplenty and Utah looked like a juggernaut in scoring 13 of the first 15 points.
The next 43 minutes? Not so great.
Eventually, the Jazz would fall 98-89 to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night at the Moda Center. But not before showing a mixed bag, typical stuff for the first game.
Those first five minutes showed what Utah could be, free-flowing and efficient on the offensive end, stingy and almost impenetrable defensively. But in surrendering the lead, and allowing Portland to score 16 of the first 20 points in the third quarter, the Jazz were almost everything they didn't want to be: Leaky on defense, and a cluttered mess in Quin Snyder's offense.
"I think we played played very well early defensively. And because we played well defensively, we got some stuff on offense," Snyder said. "It's going to take us awhile offensively to have cohesion, but I would like to see us play better defensively."
Snyder suspects that Utah's struggles on Monday can be attributed to a lack of chemistry, and that it can be fixed with more practice time. Overall, the Jazz turned the ball over too much — 19 times —- missed open shots and generally sputtered whenever Gordon Hayward wasn't on the floor.
Then, there are the new guys, George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw. None of their debuts was stellar. Johnson played 16 minutes, went 1 of 5 from the field and was a -17 in the boxscore. Hill went 2 of 5 from the floor and scored four points. Diaw didn't score in 15 minutes.
Each of the three showed flashes of what they've been known to do — Hill had a pretty hesitation to score in the first quarter, Johnson hit a nice fadeaway jumper and Diaw's passing was as advertised. But overall, their inexperience in the offense showed. And Snyder's desire to spread minutes made it difficult for any of the three to find a rhythm.
"I think we have things that we need to work on," Jazz shooting guard Rodney Hood said. "We have to get back on defense, and clean some things up offensively. But that's what the preseason is for. I think we'll be better the next game."
Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert all played well. Hayward scored all 17 of his points in the first half, and led the Jazz. Favors woke up and dominated the third quarter, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds. Gobert notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds in 22 minutes.
Monday night's game was also notable for Dante Exum's return, as the young point guard played in his first NBA action in over a year, to mixed results. He scored six points, grabbed three rebounds and handed out two assists. He got into the lane off the dribble with regularity, while playing both guard positions.
At the same time, Exum was hesitant when he did get into the lane. He struggled with decision-making off pick-and-roll action and ended up passing when he should shoot, and vice-versa.
Damian Lillard led Portland with 16 points, while Allen Crabbe had 15 points.
"It was the first game, the first preseason game," Favors said. "Obviously, we have a lot of stuff to work on. We have to work the kinks out. But for the most part, we did some good things out there."
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Storylines
R Portland begins the third quarter on a 16-4 run.
• Utah shoots 41 percent from the field.
• The Jazz lose their preseason opener.