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The Dallas Mavericks were scheduled to host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. It was a chance for Mavs fans to see Dirk Nowitzki for the first time this season, as well as a homecoming for former Jazz point guard Deron Williams, who originally hails from the Dallas area.
Because of that Mavericks home opener, Utah heads into Wednesday game's against Portland as the last NBA team to play on its home court.
The Jazz opened the season with a three-game road trip to Detroit, Philadelphia and Indiana. NBA schedulers then gave the Jazz three days off, further delaying the home debut.
"We're all excited to finally be back," Jazz forward Derrick Favors said. "We were on the road for the first three games, and I thought we played well in winning two of them. We're excited to play at home in front of the fans and to play somewhere that we're comfortable. We're just going to try and come out and get a win."
Yet, the trip home will be relatively short. After the home opener, the Jazz face the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, then head east for another four road games.
The Jazz credited their defense in beating the Philadelphia 76ers and the Indiana Pacers on consecutive nights. The Jazz know they'll need to be similarly sharp against the Blazers if they hope to beat Damian Lillard and the rest of the lineup.
"It feels great coming home, but we can't get complacent," Utah guard Rodney Hood said. "It feels good that we got two out of three, but we have to move on. Portland is a good team, and we hope the fans come out and support us."
Same as it ever was
There was concern a couple of weeks ago as to whether Jazz center Rudy Gobert had gotten enough rest between playing for France this summer and the start of training camp to be himself once the regular season began.
Two weeks later, those concerns seem a bit silly.
Gobert capped a superb individual week with a 17-rebound performance in the win over the Pacers. Through three games, the Jazz center is averaging 13.3 rebounds and 3.67 blocks per night — putting him top five in the league in both categories.
Shaking the rust
In their two practices this week, the Jazz have spent a lot of time on offensive execution, coach Quin Snyder said. While the Jazz were tremendous defensively last week, they were effective offensively only in spurts. So with a tough schedule ahead in the coming weeks, Snyder said he wants to be sure his team is clicking on both ends.
Under the weather
Favors was suffering from flu-like symptoms on Tuesday and missed practice. He is listed as questionable for Wednesday.
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