Generous Jazz eager to tighten defensively vs. Nets

Solutions for fixing a porous defense continue to elude the Utah Jazz heading into Friday night's contest against the Brooklyn Nets in Salt Lake City.

Utah dropped its fourth straight game on Wednesday, 140-124 to Golden State. It marked the ninth time that the Jazz have given up at least 140 points this season. They are allowing an NBA-worst average of 127.8 points per game.

Like many teams that have faced Utah, the Warriors did their damage from the 3-point line. They made 23 baskets from long distance, shooting 42.6%. The effort helped Golden State break open a close game in the fourth quarter and run away for a victory.

"We were steps behind on every action tonight defensively," Jazz coach Will Hardy told the Deseret News after the game. "Their cutting had us spinning like a top the entire game, and it resulted in a lot of catch-and-shoot 3s."

It's a painfully familiar story for Utah over the past few weeks. The Jazz have lost eight of nine and are 3-13 in 2026.

Weak perimeter defense has been the culprit behind the ongoing struggles. Only three opponents have failed to shoot 39% or better from 3-point range against Utah in January. The Jazz also are allowing an average of 17.4 made 3-pointers per game during that stretch.

The deficiency has undercut the emergence of Brice Sensabaugh as a reliable scorer off the bench. Sensabaugh has notched seven 20-point games in January after tallying a team-high 22 points against Golden State.

"He's obviously a great, gifted scorer," Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen told the Deseret News. "He can do his thing, and I think we've been trying to just kind of make the defense load up to him with his scoring ability."

Brooklyn, like Utah, is trying to pull out of a January tailspin.

The Nets suffered their seventh straight loss on Thursday night, 107-103 in Denver. Brooklyn has won just twice in 16 games in January.

A third victory was within reach after the Nets erased a 15-point halftime deficit in the fourth quarter. They took a 92-90 lead when Nolan Traore drove for a layup with 4:40 left to cap a 13-3 run but could not hold off the Nuggets down the stretch.

Two bright spots stand out for Brooklyn in a tough rebuilding season.

Michael Porter Jr. is thriving as the Nets' primary scoring option. He entered Thursday's game averaging 25.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 39.5% from 3-point range. He finished with 38 points on 13-of-27 shooting from the field against the Nuggets.

Rookie Egor Demin, a 6-foot-8 guard, has turned himself into a reliable perimeter threat. He is averaging 10.4 points per game while shooting 39.7% from beyond the arc. The former BYU standout has tied an NBA rookie record by making a 3-pointer in 33 consecutive games.

"I'm biased, obviously, but I wasn't convinced that he didn't have the second-most upside in that draft class," BYU's Kevin Young, Demin's college coach, told the New York Post. "I mean, just look at -- the NBA is made of guys that are that size that have a skill set. It's not made up of a bunch of 6-(foot)-2, 6-4 guards. ... His upside is through the roof."

--Field Level Media