Utah Jazz vs. Brooklyn Nets: Keys to the Game

Given the struggles of the Brooklyn Nets this season, particularly on the road, the Utah Jazz should be able to bounce back with a big win in tomorrow’s contest.

Although the Utah Jazz have now dropped two straight games, they’ll enjoy a nice little stint against a pair of lackluster opponents that should help them bounce their way back and hopefully provide a little bit more cushion for them in the standings. The first of those two contests comes tomorrow night against the Brooklyn Nets.

As I noted in my piece from earlier this morning, the Jazz are perilously close to sliding backwards in the Western Conference, so this is one of those very winnable games where Utah is in great need to simply take care of business and come away with the win. Given that the Nets are currently the worst team in the NBA, I have a good feeling that they’ll be able to do just that.

The Brooklyn Nets just barely logged their tenth win of the season with a win over Sacramento last night to bring their record to 10-49 on the year. It was their first victory in their last 16 tries and a rare road win for the Nets over a Kings team that is clearly still adjusting to life after the DeMarcus Cousins trade. Still, Brooklyn has been abysmal on the road this season and last night’s victory brought their road record to just 3-25.

The last time Utah and Brooklyn faced off back in early January, the game was more competitive than one might have expected out of a struggling Nets team. However, Utah was able to use a dominant fourth quarter in which they outscored Brooklyn 31-19 to put them away and seal the victory.

Therefore, considering all those factors and given Utah’s typical track record of excelling over subpar teams this season (setting last night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves to one side, obviously), this is a game they ought to win.