Utah Jazz preseason finale loss to Portland Trail Blazers foreshadows the season to come

All week, coaches and players across the NBA have been talking about the preseason finale being a dress rehearsal of sorts as everybody gears up for the regular season.
Well, if that’s the case, was the absolute bruising at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers what Utah Jazz fans should expect this season?
Of course, this idea of a dress rehearsal comes with a major caveat — it’s mostly the first half of the final preseason game that is treated like a real game, as most teams want to sit their starters/veterans/heavy rotation players in the second half, giving some of the end-of-bench players a solid amount of run before the games actually matter.
That was always the plan for the Jazz heading into Friday night in Portland and that’s exactly what happened, but it can’t have been an easy pill to swallow for the Jazz’s more veteran players, who sat out in the second half after they were only able to put up 33 points over the first two quarters while coughing up 15 turnovers before handing the keys over to the bench.
The Trail Blazers sailed to an easy 124-86 victory at the Moda Center, giving their fans a little bit of hope for the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Jazz fans might have been given the harsh dose of reality that they need as we now look ahead to opening night of the 2024-25 season.
Lauri Markkanen is a marked man. He will be swarmed and the No. 1 focus of the opposing defense, who will try everything they can to keep the ball out of his hands.
Keyonte George is going to be pressured more than he ever has been and he’ll have to navigate teams willing to play him full-court, daring him to prove himself as a point guard.
Taylor Hendricks is going to be a small fish in a big pond, often guarding the opposing team’s best player.
Teams are fully aware that Walker Kessler brings the ball down low and they’ll be ready to strip him.
The Jazz are a young team with some new players, so teams will force them into some tricky rotations, testing their defensive mettle.
That all happened on Friday night, and it’s all going to keep happening. So, yes, the first half of the Jazz’s loss to the Trail Blazers was a pretty good indicator of what the Jazz are going to be facing this season.
The hope is that, through trial by fire, Jazz players start to learn and grow because of the situations they are going to be in this year, but there are going to be a lot of tough nights and the learning curve is going to be steep.
So, just remember this during the regular season when the Jazz are trailing by 40-plus points to a team that is not even at the top of one of the conferences. Remember that the Jazz players need to go through these valleys in order to someday reach a peak.