The Utah Jazz have wrapped up their fourth and final preseason matchup of their four-game exhibition slate before the regular season, narrowly taking down the Phoenix Suns on the road, 119-116.
So the Jazz end their preseason slate at a pretty positive 3-1 mark, giving them what could be a nice runway to keep up the momentum for their upcoming 82-game slate, and thus have a much more successful campaign than they've been accustomed to across the last few seasons.
But before we get to next week, let's break down three key things we learned from the Jazz's win over the Suns, marking the last time this team will be on the floor before the real regular season action starts.
Jaxson Hayes Seemingly Locked Into Starting Five
Coming off of the news surrounding Jusuf Nurkic's foot injury to sideline him for the regular season, we now have three preseason games in a row where the Jazz have rolled out the same five-man starting lineup.
Four of those names aren't much of a surprise at all: Keyonte George, Darryn Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, and Jaren Jackson Jr. have consistently been in the first five on the floor since game one. But since Nurkic's injury, Jaxson Hayes has been the consistent fifth starter to fill the void Nurkic leaves.
Hayes hasn't exactly wowed through the preseason stretch of games–– having recorded six points and seven rebounds against Phoenix–– but he does offer the size and some upside as a rim protector that the Jazz can lean on for whatever amount of time that Nurkic is out.
So barring any unforeseen changes, expect Hayes to be the one taking Utah's opening tip once we arrive at opening night next week.
Jaren Jackson Jr.'s Foul Trouble Could Be an Issue
A concern that's been increasingly emphasized surrounding Jaren Jackson Jr. entering this season reared its ugly head on Friday night: and that's the foul trouble the two-time All-Star can oftentimes fall into.
Jackson Jr. had five fouls in just 20 minutes against Phoenix. He entered the half with just three personal fouls to his name, but then quickly racked up two more within a 10-second span in the middle of the third quarter, which marked the end of his night entirely.
Those issues simply can't keep persisting into the regular season as they have through the Jazz's preseason stint. Jackson Jr. is averaging over eight fouls a game per 36 minutes. And in games where Utah's best defender isn't able to consistently stay on the floor, it'll have a domino effect on just how strong their team defense can be.
Brice Sensabaugh Looks Like a Dangerous Bench Scorer
Brice Sensabaugh made the most of his bench minutes once again in this exhibition showing; lighting it up as a spark plug scorer off the bench with 16 points on 5-9 shooting from the field, as well as 4-7 from behind the arc.
It's a great start to what will be an extremely important season for Sensabaugh to capitalize on. His road to get considerable minutes will be tougher with the offseason roster changes made, added onto the fact that he's in a contract year being in the final season of his rookie deal.
But if he's able to keep scoring at an efficient rate like this off the bench? It's going to be hard for the Jazz to keep him off the floor on a nightly basis, as well as keep him out of their future plans.
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