Utah Jazz at Houston Rockets: Keys to the Game

The Utah Jazz start off a critical stretch of games with an important road contest against the third place Houston Rockets tomorrow night.

The calm before the storm is officially over and for the Utah Jazz, the tempest lies just ahead. Beginning with a battle against the third-place Houston Rockets tomorrow, the Jazz will take on seven straight playoff teams, with six of those contests coming on the road.

It will without a doubt be a defining stretch that could very well determine where Utah stands come postseason time. Therefore, with each of these next seven games coming against formidable opponents and each contest having clear playoff implications, it’s vital that the Jazz get off to a good start when they visit the Rockets tomorrow.

The regular season series between Utah and Houston is currently tied a game apiece as each one handily defeated the other on their own home court. The latest contest was a 120-101 Utah victory in Salt Lake City in which the Jazz put up one of their most explosive offensive performances of the year connecting on 15-of-28 three-point attempts (.536) to run away with the victory.

While that’s more than likely the kind of performance the Jazz will have to have once again if they hope to topple a thriving Houston team, that kind of offense unfortunately hasn’t really been the norm for the Jazz of late.

Utah has scored under 90 points in two of their last four contests and shot quite poorly against Minnesota and Sacramento, finishing just 21.1 and 30.3 percent from three, respectively. In yesterday’s contest against the New Orleans Pelicans, in light of George Hill‘s absence it was no surprise that the Jazz went stagnant on offense on more than one occasion.

Therefore, as they get set to play against one of the most prolific offensive teams in the league in the Houston Rockets, they’ll need to find a way to score. Houston is currently second in the NBA in points per game at 115.2 and second in offensive efficiency at 112.1 points per 100 possessions.

Although Utah’s slow pace and staunch defense will likely allow them to hold the Rockets beneath their usual production, there’s still no questioning that Utah’s offense will need to be flowing enough to be able to keep up and log enough points of their own. It’s no coincidence that the winner in both contests between these two teams was the one that logged over 110 points.

Thus, for the Jazz to be able to generate that kind of offense and finally come away with a much-need win against an elite Western Conference foe, they’ll need to hone in and truly excel in the following key areas.