Utah Jazz Week Twenty-Two Outlook, Predictions

3/20 Utah at Indiana

5:00 pm MT – Root Sports/League Pass

Opponent record: 35-33

Season series: Jazz lead 1-0

Aside from the Utah Jazz, the NBA team that I follow the closest is the Indiana Pacers. And let me tell you, this has been one weird season for the blue and gold.

There’s been times where Indiana has looked like a legitimate threat in the East and other times where they’ve looked completely lost. The simple analysis is that with a starting lineup that includes the likes of former All-Star Jeff Teague, an underrated but skilled big man in Thaddeus Young, a rising star in Myles Turner and of course the renowned Paul George, this team is stacked with talent, yet they happen to be dramatically lacking in chemistry.

And Indy’s last 12 games perfectly encapsulate their season so far. They are right at 6-6 during that stretch and have neither won nor lost consecutive games in those 12 contests. In other words, they’ve alternated back and forth between winning and losing each game dating back to their final contest before the All-Star break.

If that trend continues, it will mean bad news for the Jazz as the Pacers would then lose to the Raptors tomorrow then go on to defeat Utah on Monday. Let’s go ahead and hope that it doesn’t end up that way.

The Jazz didn’t have too much trouble with the Pacers in the two teams’ previous meeting in Salt Lake this year as they earned a wire-to-wire 109-100 victory while also frustrating Paul George into a minus-18 performance as well as a pair of technical fouls which saw him get ejected late in the game.

And Indiana will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back in which the Pacers are just 4-11 so far this season. That scenario certainly didn’t seem to help Utah last night, though, as they were frankly outrun and out-hustled by a Bulls team coming in without any rest.

Not to mention, despite their apparent struggles this season, the Pacers have actually been quite solid on their home floor where they own a 24-10 record (as compared to 11-23 on the road). Interestingly enough, their home record is better than both the fourth and fifth-seeded teams ahead of them in the East, but their road record is worse than each of the four teams below them in the standings.

Therefore, given that Indiana is a current playoff team with a lot on the line as they look to stave off the teams below them in the standings over which they hold only a narrow lead, Utah will have to be careful in this one. The Pacers have plenty to play for and Paul George is certainly capable of getting hot and going off as evidenced by his recent 39-point outpouring in the win over the Hornets.

However, Utah played well against Indiana the last time around and energy has been a problem for the Pacers all year long, especially on second nights of back-to-backs, so largely for that reason I’m going to give the Jazz the edge in this one.

To be perfectly honest, though, I could see this game going either way. Although I may have a bias given that these are the two teams I watch the most, I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say that the Jazz and Pacers have been two of the most confusingly inconsistent teams in the league this season. The gap between when they’re at their very best and when they’re at their worst is certainly an enormous one.

Therefore, while I’m pinning the Jazz as winners in this contest, that certainly won’t be the case if they come out as flat as they did against Chicago last night. This would be a nice win against a playoff-caliber team that would allow the Jazz to finish 2-2 on their current road trip, but given Utah’s tendency this season to really hit the deck hard once they start racking up losses, it truly wouldn’t surprise me to see them drop a third straight.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 106, Indiana 98