What Went Wrong in Jazz Loss to Spurs?

The Utah Jazz fell to the San Antonio Spurs in overtime on Wednesday night. Utah, now 1-4 this season, failed to steal a game from the Western Conference champions from a season ago. 

Here are my takeaways from the first game for the Jazz without Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen.

As predicted, the paint decided the ball game. San Antonio scored 54 points in the paint against Utah's 34. Victor Wembanyama had his fingerprints all over the game, scoring 36 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Twenty-four of those points came in the paint.

The Spurs shot 16-of-24 at the rim. The Jazz went 3-of-8 at the rim, strikingly low even with the lengthy Wembanyama controlling the rim. Utah settled for deep midrange shots and also shot 39 3-pointers and made 15 of them.

The turnover bug hit the Jazz for yet another game. Utah committed 19 turnovers to San Antonio's 11. San Antonio had 14 steals.

Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier, the two primary ball handlers for Utah, combined for 11 turnovers. If they want a better chance at closing out games, they have to take care of the ball. Coach Will Hardy will bring up turnovers at practice, as Utah is top 10 in the league in turnovers committed per game to this point in the season at 17.2.

George was a bright spot for Utah. With Jackson and Markkanen sidelined, he will take more shots moving forward. He scored 31 points on 11-of-27 shooting and hit five 3-pointers. 

Rookie Darryn Peterson kept his progress steady, added 18 points, and shot 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Utah's bench unit outscored San Antonio's by 20. Brice Sensabaugh chipped in 16 points in 18 minutes.

Collier has been a bit of a letdown off the bench so far. Yes, it's only been five games, but his efficiency isn't there right now. In 18 minutes per game, he is averaging 7.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and six assists. He has not made a 3-pointer, and he is averaging 2.4 turnovers a night.

Box score aside, fans want to see him make more of an impact during games. Collier is capable of orchestrating big runs off the bench. The question is when.

Utah hosts Portland on Halloween for a weekend afternoon tipoff, right after it visits San Antonio on Nov. 2, and then play them again on Nov. 15.

Winning against Portland can create big momentum for Utah, with the Blazers starting red hot this season.