Sure, there was a main plot: The Jazz lost their third preseason game of five by a score of 128-127 against the Pelicans. Utah took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter, but a 29-9 run by the Pelicans against Jazz deep bench units turned the tide. A Jarrell Brantley goaltend led to the crucial points for New Orleans with 1.4 seconds left.
But while a game occurred, everything but the score mattered more. For Jazz fans, seeing Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert squaring up for the game’s tip-off — Gobert won that initial tip — and battling it out for the game’s first five minutes was a little bizarre.