The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz: Five things to be thankful about this Thanksgiving

By Jared Woodcox

PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 20: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers hugs Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on November 20, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 76ers defeated the Jazz 107-86. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 20: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers hugs Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on November 20, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 76ers defeated the Jazz 107-86. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – NOVEMBER 01: Head coach Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz glares at game official John Goble
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – NOVEMBER 01: Head coach Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz glares at game official John Goble /

The Jazz have a nice stretch ahead

Although much has been made of the Utah Jazz boasting the most daunting month of any team in the league this upcoming December, as my J-Notes colleague Ryan Aston pointed out yesterday, they’re fortunate to have a nice little stretch leading up to it that could help them gain some ground and get back to where they hope to be. Five of Utah’s next six contests will be played on their home court where they’re a respectable 6-4 (.600) on the season.

Those games are all quite winnable in my mind as they’ll take on the hapless Chicago Bulls, the up-and-down Denver Nuggets who just found out that they’ll be without newly acquired All-Star Paul Millsap for an extended period of time and a slew of inconsistent teams in the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans and Washington Wizards.

Then their lone road game during the upcoming stretch will be against the reeling LA Clippers, who currently sit at 5-11 and have lost nine straight. True, Utah’s struggles have been even worse than most of the inconsistent teams that I mentioned, but that still sounds like a pleasant stretch where Utah could make up some ground.

Not only that, but one of the reasons why the month of December was viewed as so daunting was because Utah would be taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder three times. However, the Thunder have been struggling mightily as well and find themselves just one game ahead of the Jazz in the Western Conference standings. That’s not to say that those will be “gimme games” by any means, but Utah thoroughly defeated OKC once and may be able to do it again.

The Jazz struggled on their recent road trip, but with Thanksgiving nearly here, Jazz fans should be grateful that the next half dozen games could very well have a much more favorable result and that the overblown month of December might go better for Utah than many have presumed.

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