Prediction – Jazz 103, Phoenix 87
I’m pretty sure I already made it abundantly clear, but I’m relatively confident and expectant that the Utah Jazz will run away with the victory in this one. They’ll likely be looking to bounce back from a disheartening loss last night and will look to dominate a team that they already topped twice during preseason action.
Nevertheless, although I expect the Jazz to earn a solid win, after seeing their offensive struggles against the Clippers, I’m actually going to lessen my expectations for their margin of victory from my week preview piece from a couple days back and instead pin Utah to win by 16 points. Regardless of what the final score ends up being, though, this is a game the Jazz should win and hopefully it will be a major confidence and momentum builder for them.
Next: Utah Jazz rookie round-up: Ups and downs in Donovan Mitchell’s first week
After dropping their first road game of the year to Minnesota and a second one to the Clippers in LA, the Jazz will look to earn their first victory away from Vivint Smart Home Arena tonight. That will be an important mental hurdle to overcome if they hope to find continued success this season, and fortunately I’m confident that it will be very much attainable.
From there, the Jazz will play eight of their next nine games at home, beginning with Saturday’s hosting of the Los Angeles Lakers, so they’ll need to build some confidence in their ability to win on the road tonight if they hope to be able to find success following the friendly upcoming stretch.