The Utah Jazz have had a decent start to the season so far, but the upcoming four-game home stand will give them a chance to truly prove their worth.
As evidenced by their perfectly even 7-7 record, the Utah Jazz have had an up and down season so far. After being embarrassed at home by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Utah bounced back on Wednesday with an impressive 102-91 road win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Sure, the Clippers are in an obvious state of disarray right now, but going into a hostile environment and snapping a 13-game losing streak to a recent playoff regular is still a big accomplishment for this Jazz squad, particularly after coming off such a rough loss.
The most important contributing factor to this success was the improved play of Gordon Hayward. After making five of 11 from the field and just one of three from deep for 19 points against Oklahoma City, Hayward came back with an impressive 11 for 22 showing against the Clippers that included shooting five for seven from behind the arc to total 33 points.
While Hayward’s performance against the Thunder wasn’t bad by any means (in fact he led the team), his performance against the Clippers is the kind of showing that he has to have consistently if this Jazz team is going to find success. While Utah’s defense is very much dependent on Rudy Gobert, Hayward is the one who drives the offense.
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So after a roller coaster start to the season that has included one of the toughest schedules in the league–and certainly the most travel-heavy–the Jazz finally get to settle in to a four-game home stand that starts on Saturday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Although the Jazz are just a mediocre 2-2 at home so far this season, head coach Quin Snyder was quick to point out that even home games have seemed like just another quick road stop. This seems especially true considering that the upcoming home stand marks the Jazz’s first back-to-back home games of the season.
Unfortunately, while the Jazz will finally get a chance to prove they are capable of defending home court, the competition in the four-game home stand will be anything but easy. While the New Orleans Pelicans are just 4-12 on the season, their wins have come against solid teams–the Mavericks, Spurs, and Suns twice.
Before falling to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night in a game that saw superstar Anthony Davis go down with a knee injury, the Pelicans were riding a three-game win streak. While his potential absence would be absolutely devastating for New Orleans, it would be a lucky break for the Jazz.
But luck won’t be enough for the Jazz against Monday’s opponent as Utah will be matched up against the 17-0 Golden State Warriors. The Jazz did manage to defeat the red hot Golden State Warriors last season in Salt Lake City, but they’ll be hard pressed to do so this year.
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In game three of the four-game home stand, the Jazz will take on the Orlando Magic who, despite not being as impressive of a threat as Golden State, are currently standing at .500 themselves and blew out the Jazz the last time the two teams met. That game will clearly be fresh on both teams’ minds as the Jazz look for redemption and the Magic look to prove that their victory was no fluke.
Finally, the Jazz will take on the Indiana Pacers in the last game of the four-game home stretch on Saturday, December 5. Despite blowing out the Pacers in Indianapolis in the two teams’ first meeting, the Jazz will likely have their hands full with Indiana, who is currently one of the hottest teams in the league after winning four straight and 10 out of 12.
That match-up will be the Pacers’ final game of a four-game western road trip, so if the Jazz hope to win, they’ll need to look to take advantage of a potentially worn out Indiana team.
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While the Jazz have a respectable .500 record, it’s not beyond reason to say that they should have a significantly better record than that. The Jazz had clear opportunities to win their games against both Cleveland and Miami and have lost other close games simply due to a bad quarter or the inability to finish.
By hanging close with good squads, the Jazz have shown that they are worthy of consideration among the top teams in the league. However, if they want their competition to truly see them as a real threat this season, they’ll need to prove that they can take care of business on their home court.
The upcoming homestand gives them an opportunity to do just that and improve their record well above .500 while helping them take the next step towards rising up the Western Conference standings.
Utah should definitely beat both the struggling Pelicans and an inconsistent Magic team, particularly on their home court. While it will be a daunting task to defeat both the Warriors and the Pacers, if the Jazz are even able to go 3-1 during their first homestand, it will serve as a clear early-season message that the Jazz are able to defend their home court and are truly on track to becoming a playoff team.
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It will take a near flawless performance to beat the Warriors, but given Utah’s win last season, it’s not outside reason that the Jazz could be the team to pull it off. While it’s more likely that the Jazz get a win over the Pacers, Utah will have to avoid the trap of reading too much into their Halloween win over the Pacers in the third game of the season.
The Pacers are definitely a different team now and will be a tough match-up. Regardless of who they fare better against, if the Jazz truly want to make a statement, they’ll need to find a way to knock off at least one of these two daunting opponents.
So while 7-7 isn’t an awful mark for a young, up-and-coming team who has had arguably the toughest schedule in the league to start out the year, it’s clear that the Jazz can be even better. Whether it’s fair or not, fans expect more out of this resilient team and the players and coaching staff should have even more ambitious expectations.
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If the Jazz go 2-2 over this next stretch, they will still be on track for a solid season, but the sooner they learn how to stop muddling through .500 mediocrity, the better.
The Jazz are finally back home for their first long stretch of the season. It’s no longer enough for them to just hang in with their opponents. Starting with this important four-game home stand, it’s time for the Jazz to prove that they can win.