After going undefeated last week, the Utah Jazz have an excellent opportunity to extend their winning streak even further with three winnable contests in Week 13.
After a disappointing Week 11 in which the Utah Jazz went just 2-3 during a five-game road trip where they played without George Hill for the first three games of the contest, the team bounced back in a big way in Week 12, going 3-0 including a huge home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Jazz looked much more like the team we expected them to be once they became full healthy in that convincing win over the Cavs as the defensive clamps were in full effect and the three-point shots were falling with ease.
Utah was also able to cruise to an easy 33-point victory over the Detroit Pistons before being challenged by the Orlando Magic the next day. Luckily, the Jazz used an enormous fourth quarter run to top Orlando, but they weren’t quite able to escape the game unscathed. Rodney Hood went down late in the fourth quarter with a hyperextended knee and is slated to miss at least the first game of this week against the Phoenix Suns, if not more.
Utah Jazz: Good News Concerning Rodney Hood Injury https://t.co/4WcywxYNtt #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/nfbneOxVnP
— The J-Notes (@TheJNotes) January 15, 2017
Still it was an impressive week which saw the Jazz improve their record to 26-16. Although I had been able to bring my predictions record up to dead even with the Jazz at 23-16 after I correctly identified the outcome of each game in Week 11, after seeing their struggles on the road trip I underestimated Utah’s chances against the Cavs and picked them to go 2-1 last week, bringing my personal record to one game behind the Jazz at 25-17.
It was certainly worth it, though, to have the Jazz handily beat the Cavs and log an undefeated week. Now as we’ve crossed the midway point and reached Week 13, the Utah Jazz have an excellent chance to build on their current three-game winning streak and notch another undefeated week against three subpar opponents.