Utah Jazz vs. Phoenix Suns: Keys to the Game

The Utah Jazz have a great chance to close out 2016 with three straight victories as they take on the Phoenix Suns tonight.

While the Utah Jazz failed to give fans a memorable Christmas present as they dropped three straight games heading into the holiday, it appears that the team is looking to make up for it by giving us all a happy New Year. The Jazz have won two in a row, the second one coming with George Hill back in action. Talk about a much-needed and well-received gift.

And with the Phoenix Suns in town tonight, the Jazz have a chance to win their third straight and end 2016 with a 21-13 record. Not too shabby at all, especially considering that last season, the Jazz ended 2015 with a 15-17 record.

What’s even more exciting is that the Jazz find themselves currently in fifth place in the West, just one game behind a Los Angeles Clippers team that has struggled of late due to injuries to their top players Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. They play a tough Thunder team tonight, so if Utah takes care of business against the Suns, and the Clippers stumble once again, the Jazz will enter 2017 tied for fourth place in the West.

Not bad at all. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that’s a dang good accomplishment, especially considering how many games their starting point guard and other key players have missed.

But the Jazz can’t get too far ahead of themselves as this Phoenix team is not a squad to be overlooked. Despite holding just a 10-23 record, they are coming off of a big win on Thursday night in which they surprised the Toronto Raptors who boast the league’s most efficient offense.

And last time Utah and Phoenix met, the Suns rallied late to give the Jazz a true run for their money. Phoenix has played in a lot of close games this year, so Utah will need to be ready for them in several aspects in order to come away with their third straight win.

Key Match-up – George Hill and Eric Bledsoe

Let me just say I am overjoyed to FINALLY be able to pin George Hill in one of these pieces as one of the key players. Despite starting out a little bit conservative in the win over Philly on Thursday, Hill exploded in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 21 points on 80 percent shooting while sinking both of his three-point attempts.

He continues to be one of the Jazz’s most important players and often times their most reliable. His shooting numbers of 55.1 percent from the field and 47.5 percent from deep have been absolutely jaw-dropping. And it’s not like he’s just getting lucky, he’s converting at that rate while attempting 13 field goals per game and nearly five three-pointers.

Unfortunately his sample size has been just a measly 12 games this season, but it’s impressive nonetheless. And if he can find a way to keep it up, there’s no telling how far he can help carry this Jazz team.

But Hill will have his work cut out for him tonight against the Suns leading scorer Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe is averaging nearly an identical amount of points as Hill at 20 per game, albeit at a much less efficient clip. Bledsoe is shooting a solid 45.5 percent from the field, but his three-point percentage of 29.7 leaves a lot to be desired.

But he is at his best when he is aggressively attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line, so Hill will have to be on lockdown mode on defense to stop the Suns’ prolific scorer and team leader.

Outside of Bledsoe, the Suns have very few other dominant scorers, with all but four of their players averaging under 8.5 points per game. Therefore, the outcome of this key match-up between Hill and Bledsoe could very well determine the outcome of the game.

Key Stat – Assists

Despite the fact that the Suns play at the second fastest pace in the league at 103.5 possessions per game, they are dead last in assists, putting up just 18.5 per contest.

In terms of sheer number of assists, Utah isn’t much better as they are second to last in the league at 19.2 per game, but they also play at the league’s slowest pace so it isn’t as much of a struggle for them as the assists per game number might suggest. And it surely isn’t as poor as the lack of ball movement on Phoenix’s high-paced offense.

Related Story: Where Do the Utah Jazz Stand at the End of 2016?

And with George Hill back in the mix on Thursday, the Utah Jazz moved the ball extremely well and logged 21 assists despite their typical slow pace. The Jazz are currently 10-5 when they log 20 assists or more, which isn’t quite where they’d like to be, but they’re definitely a better team when the ball is moving and they’re cashing in on easy baskets off assists.

On the flip side of that, they’ll need to take advantage defensively of a Phoenix team that runs a lot, but doesn’t generate a lot of easy looks with assists. The Jazz tend to defend very well against teams that try to go one-on-one on them, so if they can keep the fast break points down and limit Phoenix to their usual low assist output, they should be in a great spot to win the game.

Key Performer – Derrick Favors

I’m really, REALLY going out on a limb on this one. Against a lackluster team such as the Suns, it would seem that some of the Jazz’s elite scorers such as Rodney Hood or Gordon Hayward would be in a prime position to have a big game. However, if any Jazz player was due for and in need of a breakout game, it’s Derrick Favors.

It’s pretty obvious that Favors is still trying to get back in the swing of things following his injury as he hasn’t looked anything like his former self that we’ve grown accustomed to the past two years. On the season, he’s averaging just 8.5 points and six rebounds.

Since returning from injury, the numbers look even worse as he has put up just 5.4 points per game on 33.3 percent shooting while grabbing 5.1 rebounds over the course of seven games. For a guy who averaged 16.4 points and 8.1 rebounds last season, to say this year has been a disappointment so far would be an understatement.

I’m willing to be patient with Favors, but his struggles to come back from injury have been a bit discouraging so far and if Utah hopes to elevate their game to the next level, they’ll need Favors to step up in a big way.

And I’m going to stick with my bold prediction and say that will happen tonight as Favors will end the night as the game’s key performer. Given that he’ll be matched up against the likes of rookie Marquese Chriss or the undersized Jared Dudley at the power forward position, Favors should have an exceptional opportunity to take advantage and put up a big game.

Prediction – Jazz 107, Suns 94

Earlier in the week, I predicted three straight Jazz wins and with each of my keys to the games pieces, I’ve kept my predictions the same as in my week ten outlook. It’s seemed to work so far, so why change it? I’m going to stick with the Jazz grabbing a 13-point victory.

But beyond keeping up the tradition, I’m truly confident that Utah will indeed be able to come away with a solid win over an inconsistent Phoenix team. It’s clearly going to take the Jazz a little bit of time to get readjusted to one another following all the injuries, but after seeing their performance in the fourth quarter against the Sixers, I’m confident that will carry over into tonight’s contest and Utah will indeed win their third straight.

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And doing so would provide a great lift as after tonight’s game, Utah will embark on a grueling five-game road trip that will include tough games against the likes of the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies.

Last time Utah went on a five-game road trip, they managed to go 4-1. Doing so again against these formidable opponents will be a much tougher task, so earning a win against a very beatable Phoenix Suns team would provide a much-needed cushion. And as long as the Jazz play their typical game tonight, that cushion should very well be theirs.

And hopefully a game against a weak opponent tonight will help Utah to develop that much more cohesion as they get set to begin their tough road trip.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com