A Win Over the Warriors
You know what they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but it just so happens that the Jazz have come oh so close to knocking off the Warriors on three occasions now in the past two years.
Utah has been pinned as a team whose slow pace and stifling size and length could very well give the Warriors problems and on multiple occasions they have for about 40 to 44 minutes. However, going back to last season the Jazz have been unable to seal the deal and notch a victory over the defending Western Conference Champions and former NBA Champions.
And from the way they’ve played and how hard they’ve fought, you can tell it’s something that the team desperately wants and, in my humble opinion, something the Jazz need to really make this season great and prove themselves as a legitimate threat. Utah has already proven that they can hang in with the Warriors, but until they take that next step and actually defeat them, their supposed ability to give Golden State problems will be nothing more than talk.
So while Utah has defeated some elite teams in impressive fashion this year including the Spurs, Rockets, Cavs, Thunder and Grizzlies, the one team that is critically absent from that list is the Golden State Warriors.
Unfortunately the Jazz have been infinitely better against the Warriors at home, but will not get another chance to face them in Salt Lake during the regular season this year. Their final match-up will come on April 10th at Oracle Arena, unless they meet in the playoffs.
And if Utah and Golden State are destined to meet in the postseason, I don’t think any Jazz fan will complain about notching those coveted victories when the stakes are highest.
So while this may very well likely be the toughest task of the bunch, it certainly is a critical missing element that would be overwhelmingly exciting and memorable if the Jazz were able to add it to their list of accomplishments for 2016-17.
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Nevertheless, regardless of whether we’re eventually able to put a check mark next to each of these four items by season’s end or not, the most important thing is that the Jazz are finally healthy, are eight games above .500 and have finally brought playoff-level basketball back to Salt Lake City.
And if any of these elements get mixed into what has already been an awesome season, they will just be a little extra bonus to sweeten the year.