The Utah Jazz offense may leave something to be desired, but their elite defense should give them a good chance to win a lot of games. So just how good does their offense need to be?
Heading into the 2017-18 NBA season, there’s a common question among the media and fans alike — just how is this Utah Jazz team going to be able to score points? It’s a legitimate question. Without Gordon Hayward and George Hill, the Jazz don’t have a single player on their roster who scored over 14 points a game last season.
The question should be phrased differently though. We should be asking how many points the Jazz need to score so their defense can win games.
I don’t want the suspense to kill you, so I’ll just give you the answer now. It’s 96 points per game.
The Jazz averaged 100.7 ppg last season. While that was good for only 28th in the NBA, the Jazz were able to win games because they only allowed 96.7 points per game, which was first in the league. With that in mind, they may be even better defensively this next season.
Utah #Jazz: Great defense is poised to be even better in 2017-18 https://t.co/Ws6N7I0YBu -- @A_Coffee4 (via @HoopsHabit)
— HoopsHabit (@HoopsHabit) August 15, 2017
When the Jazz held teams to 100 points or less, they were 38-9. Below 90 points, 21-4. Overall, their defense kept teams at or below 95 points on 36 occasions. Below 90 points: 25 times. Below 80 points: four times. They even held the Atlanta Hawks (who averaged 103.2 ppg) to a season-low 68 points.
The pieces are in place for the Jazz to have an even better defensive season than last, which should worry the rest of the NBA.
If the Jazz offense can muster just a 96 point average, their defense should put them in a position to win most games. With that number as the qualifier, there are three reasons I believe the Jazz offense will be just fine.