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Contrary to popular belief, the Utah Jazz have had a great start to their 2022-23 NBA season and are near the top of the Western Conference after four games (3-1).
This new version of the squad relies a lot on team spirit and unselfish basketball, as the Jazz have a lot of players who can take over and lead their team to victory.
From Lauri Markkanen to Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton, Utah knows that team basketball will help them defy the odds and have a successful season, despite the offseason's full rebuild.
Over the summer, the Utah Jazz traded Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, their cornerstone players, to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively.
When Bojan Bogdanovic joined the Detroit Pistons a few weeks ago, the expectation was that the rebuild would continue, along with the departure of Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson.
Due to these drastic changes, the basketball world was expecting the franchise to be one of the worst teams this season.
Fast forward to the start of the season, and the Utah Jazz are near the top of the Western Conference with a 3-1 record.
The Jazz have defeated the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans. All three of those teams are legit playoff contenders in the West.
Utah missed the chance to extend its winning streak to four games after suffering a narrow loss to the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Monday (108-114).
With that said, let's take a look at the reasons behind the Utah Jazz's impressive start to the season.
Ball movement and team spirit force Utah Jazz's hot start
With so many newcomers joining Utah, it would make sense for the team to need time to reach its peak and play good basketball.
However, the Jazz have exceeded expectations so far and are playing at a high pace, executing very well on offense (fourth best offense in the NBA with 121,3 points per game).
The key to that impressive number is the team's playing style, which relies on ball movement and unselfish basketball. The Utah Jazz share the ball and have a total of four players who averaged double-figure scoring in their first four games.
''Top to bottom, guys are playing hard, playing the right way, playing together, unselfish,'' Kelly Olynyk, who hit the game winner vs the Pelicans, said, according to Brett Martel's nba.com article. ''It's been really fun to play the first three games. We're getting better and learning more about each other's games," he added. ''It's been showing and it's exciting.''
Against New Orleans, the Utah Jazz dished 29 assists, with Mike Conley dishing eight of them. Against the Timberwolves on Friday, they had 27 assists, while in their season opener versus the Nuggets, they had an impressive 39 assists.
"I've been saying, I think we've got a great team and we got good pieces on this team," Lauri Markkanen, who scored 32 points, said. "(We have) good players, and I think the thing you see is the heart. We play our heart out every game, and we try to play unselfish."
Following a turbulent offseason, the Utah Jazz know that if they don't play as a team, they will not have a chance of fighting for a spot in the postseason. In addition, they are motivated to prove doubters wrong and exceed expectations.
Coach Will Hardy has been impressed by the character and the heart his players have shown in their first three games.
"Our team's got heart,'' Hardy said after Sunday's win vs the Pelicans. ''The fourth quarter got hard - could not make a shot. Our guys just stuck with it. This group is fun," he added.
Hardy, who took over the Utah Jazz in the summer, understands that team spirit is key to this team. He emphasized that the franchise will be unsuccessful if they don't play team basketball.
''There's a real camaraderie with this group even at this early stage because I think all of our guys understand that none of them can do it on their own,'' Hardy said after Wednesday's season-opening victory vs Denver. ''We all have chips on our shoulders. Everyone here wants to show people that we're a tough team,'' Collin Sexton said.
Sexton is enjoying basketball again, following his departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers and is averaging 12.3 points so far.
Lauri Markkanen has taken over for the Utah Jazz, averaging almost a double-double (21.5 points, 8.8 rebounds), while Jordan Clarkson is off to a hot start as well with 18.5 points and 5.3 assists.
Kelly Olynyk has found his place in the rotation and has a key role in offense (15.5 points). Mike Conley is Utah's floor general with 9.8 points and 8.5 assists.
With Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt playing at high standards as well, the Utah Jazz have a total of seven players who have made the difference so far.
With excitement returning to Utah after a great start, it seems the Jazz have what it takes to defy the odds and maintain their playoff status. No matter what happens, though, the first signs of a new era are positive for the Jazz.
