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Utah Jazz vs. Washington Wizards: Keys to the Game

By Jared Woodcox

Feb 26, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Utah Jazz forward Joe Johnson (6) dribbles the ball past /Washington Wizards guard Bojan Bogdanovic (44) in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Jazz won 102-92. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Utah Jazz forward Joe Johnson (6) dribbles the ball past /Washington Wizards guard Bojan Bogdanovic (44) in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Jazz won 102-92. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 26, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles (2) loses control of the ball in front of Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Jazz won 102-92. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles (2) loses control of the ball in front of Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Jazz won 102-92. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Key Stat – Turnovers

The one blemish on Utah’s impressive win over Washington in the previous contest was their excessive number of turnovers. As I mentioned previously, Utah finished the game with a season-high 24 giveaways as compared to Washington’s 16.

Typically, a 24-turnover game is a quick way to hand yourself a devastating loss, but luckily the Jazz were able to play well enough in other areas to prevent that from happening. Still, the fact remains that it’s likely that if Utah hopes to win tomorrow, they’re going to have to play a much cleaner game than last time in that category.

Fortunately for the Jazz, Washington has been more apt to turning the ball over than Utah this season as they average 14.1 turnovers per game as compared to Utah’s 13.7. That’s not a wide margin, though, and the Wizards love to get out and run in transition so the Jazz will have to be cautious to not let them build any momentum off of easy baskets caused by Utah turnovers.

The Jazz have averaged just 10.6 turnovers over their last five games which is well below their season average, so hopefully that signifies an improvement in that area that will continue tonight and beyond.

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