11/28 Utah vs. Denver
8:00 pm MT – ESPN
Opponent record: 11-8
Season series: Jazz lead 1-0
The Utah Jazz started out the season against what many supposed would be a much-improved Denver Nuggets team that would likely be one of the squads to push the Jazz out of the playoff picture. After a solid season last year that saw them narrowly miss the postseason, plenty of promising young guns and newly acquired All-Star Paul Millsap, many were very high on the Nuggets’ chances this year.
However, Utah was able to finish that first contest strong and come away with a phenomenal early win over the division rival Denver Nuggets. Since then, however, there’s been little doubt that the Nuggets have been the better team as Millsap and Co. were starting to put the pieces together while the Jazz were struck by injury after injury and began struggling immensely.
But the injury bug hasn’t been too picky about which teams it wants to inflict, as it also struck the Denver Nuggets recently, delivering a devastating blow to Paul Millsap – a torn ligament in his wrist that will take surgery and approximately three months to recover from. That’s obviously a big loss for Denver and could dramatically impact them moving forward.
Story on Denver's Paul Millsap expected to be sidelined 2-to-3 months with surgery on injured wrist: https://t.co/m8BH7yDSku
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2017
With such being the case, they’ll have to adapt pretty significantly, but they’re a resilient team with plenty of other talented players such as Nikola Jokic and Gary Harris, and they just so happen to be extremely deep at the power forward position (just ask Trey Lyles). Therefore, while this Nuggets team is down, they certainly aren’t out, and will likely present an extremely tough challenge for the Jazz regardless.
Nevertheless, Utah seemed to match up very well against Denver in the season opener and although Jokic will likely have a nice edge without Rudy Gobert around to hold him in check, his defense is less than stirring and I think Derrick Favors will be able to build some confidence against him. Also, since the contest will be played on the Jazz’s home court, I predict that they’re going to be able to build on their recent hot play and find a way to beat a Nuggets team that is likely still adapting in wake of the loss of Paul Millsap.
The Jazz will have to get off to a good start as this high-octane Denver team has the ability to bury its opponents if given too much of a headstart, but Utah earned a come from behind victory last time so they’re certainly capable of outmatching them as long as they keep it close.
My Prediction: Jazz Win
Final Score: Utah 111, Denver 103