Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans: Keys to the Game

Key Stat – Turnovers

There have been a lot of issues with the Jazz in their recent slump that has seen them drop four of their last five games, but one that particularly has stood out that could be quite fixable has been their abundance of turnovers. It’s no secret that Utah’s offense has fallen into a tendency to go stagnant at times and that has often led to poor decisions, ill-advised passes and ultimately extra possessions for their opponents due to turnovers.

In three of the Jazz’s last four losses, they’ve recorded 14 turnovers or more and several of those have led to easy points for their opponents. Last time Utah took on the Pelicans, they logged a dismal 19 turnovers. Fortunately, New Orleans coughed it up even more as they finished the night with 20 giveaways, but the fact of the matter is it’s an area that Utah has to shore up this time around.

Perhaps even more disturbing than the actual turnover numbers themselves is what the giveaways signify. The fact that Utah is turning the ball over so much is an indication that their communication and cohesion are off and that the offense is suffering as a result of it. With that being the case, it’s vital that they cut their turnovers down sooner rather than later.

On the season, the Jazz find themselves in the bottom third of the league in turnovers per 100 possessions, so while it’s been worse of late, taking care of the basketball has obviously been a problem all season long. And if Utah hopes to get back on track and have a morale-boosting win over the Pelicans tonight to set themselves up for success in the upcoming slate of games, then that’s a disheartening weakness that they’ll need to fix up right away.