Utah Jazz at San Antonio Spurs: Keys to the Game

Key Stat – Three-Point Percentage

In Utah’s November road win over the San Antonio Spurs, they were able to come away with a victory largely because they did something that few teams have managed to do this season – they out-shot San Antonio from behind the arc. Utah finished shooting 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from three while the Spurs went just 30 percent (6-of-20). Especially given that the Spurs are the NBA’s best three-point shooting team at 39 percent on the year, this was quite the feat.

The Jazz’s success lately has revolved largely around their three-point shooting. In their last three victories, they’ve shot better than 40 percent from deep, including a phenomenal 55.6 percent outing against New Orleans. Ranking at 11th in the NBA in three-point percentage at 36.7 percent, it’s clear how important it is for Utah to get in a groove from deep and surpass their season average from three.

San Antonio, meanwhile, has of course become a consistent knockdown team from deep. However, the discrepancy in their percentage in wins and losses is very significant. In wins, they convert on 40.5 percent of their three-point attempts while in their meager 17 losses they drop all the way to 33.9 percent. Furthermore, it’s interesting to note that the Spurs are undefeated when they’ve shot better than 45 percent from deep this season.

Therefore, if Utah hopes to have any chance of containing the Spurs, much of their work will have to be done beyond the arc. Not only will it be vital to contain the sharp-shooting San Antonio squad, but hopefully the Jazz can fill it up as well. Rodney Hood and Joe Ingles have been on fire of late and Utah will certainly need them to continue their upswing tomorrow afternoon.