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Utah Jazz vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Keys to the Game

By Jared Woodcox

Oct 25, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) reacts after dunking against the Portland Trail Blazers in the second half at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) reacts after dunking against the Portland Trail Blazers in the second half at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 25, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) reacts after dunking against the Portland Trail Blazers in the second half at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) reacts after dunking against the Portland Trail Blazers in the second half at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /

The Utah Jazz will look to put up a repeat performance of their last match-up against Portland as the Blazers come into town tomorrow night.

The end of the NBA regular season is a lot of fun. Especially when there are teams matching up against one another that are fighting for their playoff lives or battling to secure a higher seed, it’s almost like getting a “best-of-1” series each night given the intense playoff atmosphere and how much tends to be at stake as teams scrap for playoff position.

When the Portland Trail Blazers come into Salt Lake City on Tuesday night to take on the Utah Jazz, you can bet that that’s exactly the kind of atmosphere that’s going to exist.

Portland is currently the hottest team in the league, having won six straight and 14 of their last 17 (as of this writing) after posting the best record in the league in the the month of March of 13-3. That’s allowed them to surge comfortably into the eighth spot in the West where they hold a two-game lead over ninth place Denver.

Utah meanwhile, has been as up and down as ever lately, losing to the Spurs Sunday afternoon after rattling off three straight victories. Before that, they had lost four of five immediately after a stretch that saw them knock off the Rockets, Clippers and Pistons.

In spite of their inconsistencies, the Jazz find themselves in fourth place in the West and with their hopes for earning home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs still very much in tact, but also endangered.

The Jazz only have a half-game lead on the Clippers with one more game than them to play and LAowns the tiebreaker, so Utah has to win at least one more game than the Clips to finish in fourth place. Thus both Utah and Portland have a lot on the line as they prepare to go up against one another tomorrow night.

With a brutal contest in Portland coming later in the week followed by games against Golden State and San Antonio to close out the season, it will be vital that the Jazz come out with an immense amount of energy on their home court tomorrow night and take care of business in the following areas so that they can earn a vital win against the Blazers and increase their chances of staying in fourth place.

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