Maybe it was overconfidence from already beating one Australian team by 50ish points. Maybe it was general disinterest in facing non-NBA competition for the second time in a span of three preseason games. Maybe it was raggedness borne from Quin Snyder experimenting with lineups and rotations.
Whatever it was, the Utah Jazz suffered through an extremely sluggish start on Friday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena, but still pulled out a 129-99 victory over the game but ultimately overmatched Adelaide 36ers.
And while the Jazz overcame an ignominious and embarrassing start, and earned a larger margin of victory than perhaps deserved, they set themselves up for a whole lot of questions and criticism along the way.