After not losing their second game last season until after Thanksgiving - Nov. 25, to be exact - the Jazz were left with a 2-2 record six days into the new season. And maybe it was to be expected with the Jazz opening with five games against playoff teams.

What did the Jazz learn after Week 1? They have questions to answer as far as defense and their bench, but could draw encouragement from the play of Deron Williams and Ronnie Brewer. They also got an early feel for the caliber of teams in the Western Conference.

Get a stop

The good news for the Jazz is they'll have every opportunity to break their three-game streak of giving up 100-plus points Wednesday against Cleveland. Even with LeBron James, the Cavaliers are averaging only 92 points a game this season.

After Sunday's loss to the Lakers, the Jazz acknowledged something had to be done about their defense. For now, the focus will be on running the floor harder, stepping up in the lane to draw charges and trying to offer each other more help.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan talked Saturday about how Derek Fisher's departure cost his team a player who knew how to pressure guards on the perimeter. In addition, the burden of being the last line of defense too often has fallen on Andrei Kirilenko, Sloan said.

"We had guys drive around us. They'd go to the basket and lay the ball in the basket. We'd get nobody over to help," Sloan said after Sunday's loss. "Andrei is our only shot-blocker we have, but how many charges did any of the other people

"If you can't block shots, you've got to get there with your body and we never did do that."

In reserve

Through four games, the Jazz's bench play has mirrored the results in the standings. The Jazz reserves outscored their Golden State counterparts in the two victories but were more than doubled up in the losses to Houston and the Lakers.

The Jazz bench was outscored 30-13 by Houston and 41-18 by the Lakers. In Sunday's game, Sloan opened the fourth quarter with all five starters sitting only to hustle Williams and Carlos Boozer back in as the Lakers took the lead for good with a 7-0 run.

More to come

If word hasn't gotten around the NBA already, it soon will. After spending his summer playing for USA Basketball, Williams has returned to Utah and picked up where he left off during the Jazz's run to the conference finals.

Williams is averaging 24.5 points (up from 16.2 last season) with 9.3 assists and has made 23 of 35 shots (65.7 percent) the past two games. That includes a 16-point fourth-quarter showcase in Saturday's victory against Golden State.

"He has a pretty good package to start with for a third-year [player]. He's gotten better. He got better last year," Sloan said. "Hopefully, he'll continue work at it to make himself better because teams will learn how to take certain things away from you."

Second-year sensation

Say this for Brewer: The Jazz have played 11 games (preseason and regular season) and the second-year guard has scored in double figures in all of them. Brewer is averaging 16.3 points and is still shooting at a 61 percent clip.

After connecting on two three-pointers Saturday, Brewer was praised by Golden State coach Don Nelson and forward Al Harrington as the game's difference maker. "He hit threes, and we all know he is not a shooter," Harrington said.

Measuring up

As long as they can win the Northwest Division, the Jazz would claim no worse than a No. 4 playoff seed. Now consider that the division's three teams other than Denver have opened a combined 0-8.

The Jazz, though, have gotten an early look at how the conference has improved. They acknowledged Houston was deeper with Luis Scola and Mike James and watched as Ronny Turiaf, Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar chipped in for the Lakers.

What hasn't changed is how the Jazz view themselves. "We just have to play better as we move along," Boozer said. "We have the talent in this room to do a lot of good things, but we have to put it together on the court to do it."

rsiler@sltrib.com

Cleveland at Utah,

7 p.m., KJZZ