The Utah Jazz will look to right the ship and earn their first road win of the season as they face off against the surprising Orlando Magic.
It was raining threes in Brooklyn Friday night, as the Utah Jazz struggled all game to find any sort of consistency on offense, and defense. Falling behind 39-25 in the first quarter, they were not able to close the deficit to less than nine points and would end up losing 118-107.
The Jazz have now lost six of their last seven games, and are 6-10 on the season. They’re also winless on the road, sitting at 0-6 on the season.
The Jazz were supposed to be giving themselves a win cushion prior to the most difficult stretch of their season. Unfortunately, the timing of that is coinciding with some series injury troubles. Injury issues are all too familiar for this Jazz team, and now it has become a real question of whether the Jazz should concede the season in an effort to improve their draft pick next summer.
For the record, I am not on the side of tanking. That would require the Jazz to part ways with some valuable pieces who can really help this team when fully healthy. If they continue to struggle with injuries and inconsistent offense, the losses are going to come regardless. I’ve never been an advocate of manufacturing losses and risk instilling a losing culture.
The Jazz will need to get back on track soon in order to salvage their season. The Orlando Magic are going to be a difficult test. They are an up and coming team in the East, and at 8-7, they are off to their best start since Dwight Howard left the franchise. Aaron Gordon is looking to become a first-time All-Star this season, and has a case for Most Improved Player.
In order for the Utah Jazz to capture their first road win of the season against this Magic team, they are going to have to perform better in a few key areas.