Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week Three Outlook, Predictions

After going just 1-2 during their last three games, the Utah Jazz will go on to face a tough slate of opponents in their third week of the 2017-18 season.

After finishing off Week One of NBA action with a bang by thoroughly outmatching the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back, the Utah Jazz were flying high and expectations about the team (including my own) seemed to instantly skyrocket. However, last week’s trio of Jazz outings were certainly a reality check proving that this Utah team still has quite a few adjustments to make moving forward.

The Utah Jazz went just 1-2, falling to both the Los Angeles Clippers and the middling Phoenix Suns before pulling out a much-needed, but not all that convincing win over the Los Angeles Lakers last night. You’d think at some point I’d learn my lesson about over-optimism as last season it seemed whenever I’d get too high on the Jazz I’d jinx them, but alas, after the OKC win I projected them to log a 3-0 week, but it didn’t exactly pan out that way.

That meant that I only correctly picked one Jazz outcome last week, causing my projections record to go 1-2 as well, keeping me dead even with the Jazz at 3-3 on the season. As the year goes on and teams start to separate themselves little by little, it should become somewhat easier to predict outcomes, but of course in a league like the NBA we all know that anything can happen on any given night.

From here, the Jazz will look to go on a bit of a run as eight of their next nine contests are within the friendly confines of Vivint Smart Home Arena where they are currently undefeated (3-0) whereas they have yet to log a victory on the road (0-3). They’ll play three of those home contests this week, first on Monday against the Dallas Mavericks, then Wednesday versus the Portland Trail Blazers, and finally against the Toronto Raptors on Friday.

After that, they’ll be back on the road for a brief stint against the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Although the home-heavy schedule should provide a nice boost, three of Utah’s four opponents this week have winning records in this early part of the season, so the Jazz will undoubtedly be in for a tough stretch.

With that being the case, there’s absolutely no questioning that Utah will have to step up in a big way and play much better than they did last week if they hope to stay at or above .500 at the conclusion of their third week of action. Let’s take a closer look at each match-up that lies ahead and what the Jazz will be up against as they hope to solidify their place in the crowded Western Conference.