Five takeaways from OKC Thunder first loss of season

Presumption is your enemy:

Perhaps the OKC Thunder underestimated the Jazz who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back.  Or, maybe they had bought into their own narrative. Regardless of the reason, this loss was a sound reminder there is still ample work to be done.

Despite the off season losses of Gordon Hayward and George Hill plus the absence of Rodney Hood the Utah Jazz are still a top defensive team.

In fact, take a deep dive into Jazz coach Quin Snyder’s bio and there are a few defining common denominators.

1. Virtually every veteran to mid-career player who lands on his roster posts career numbers. I’d be willing to wager this will be Ricky Rubio’s most efficient season of his career.
2. His development staff is among the very best in the business. Rarely do Utah’s youngsters not improve. Rather, they experience tangible yearly growth.
3. Snyder’s squad will be among the slowest paced in the NBA
4. Jazz players will defend every night
5. Utah’s offense won’t have a ton of bells and whistles, but the squad will deliver efficiently.

Knowing all these factors the OKC Thunder either ignored these certainties  or — over estimated their own abilities at this stage.