10/30 Utah Jazz vs. Dallas Mavericks: Keys to the Game
Prediction – Jazz 106, Mavericks 97
Despite Utah’s discouraging performances against the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns, they seemed to garner some confidence against the Lakers last week that I think will help them improve even further tonight. Not only that, but the Jazz have been exceptional at home where they’re 3-0 on the season and that fact along with their incredible depth should be enough to overwhelm the Mavs.
However, given the fact that Utah’s offense has looked somewhat underwhelming of late, despite Dallas’ 1-6 record, I don’t see the Jazz winning in blowout fashion. Luckily, at the end of the day a win is a win, and I’m pinning Utah to be able to come away with a nine-point victory as their notably more talented roster should be able to top the Mavericks.
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The Jazz certainly have a lot to figure out as they work to build chemistry and cohesion with a new point guard and several other new faces on the team, and ideally tonight’s contest against a mediocre Dallas team will help them take yet another step forward towards that goal. I pointed out in my recent week preview piece that the Jazz started out the season 7-8 last year, so their current 3-3 mark is definitely nothing to panic about.
Even so, with eight of their next nine contests coming at home, it’s perfectly justifiable to expect them to go on a bit of a run over the upcoming few weeks and earn some much-needed wins that could help them during the tougher stretches of the season that are bound to come.