Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week Eight Outlook, Predictions

The Utah Jazz will face a tough slate of four games in six days as they put their five-game winning streak on the line in Week Eight of the 2017-18 season.

Well, Week Seven was about as exciting of a week as we could have hoped for. Not only did the Utah Jazz manage to go an astounding 3-0 which included two blowouts and a thrilling come from behind victory on the second night of a back-to-back, but on said final victory, electrifying rookie Donovan Mitchell went absolute berserk, notching a career-high 41 points including 17 in the fourth quarter.

It was an awesome trio of games that saw the Jazz not just bounce back to get back above .500, but also fight their way into seventh place in the Western Conference, a mere game behind the fifth and sixth place teams and a game and a half out of fourth. That has the Jazz in a nice spot as they prepare for what is bound to be a daunting December.

Utah’s success last week to put them at 12-11 on the year was also enough for them to surpass my predictions record. I had pinned the Jazz to go 2-1, defeating the Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers, but falling to the New Orleans Pelicans. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that they proved me wrong and won all three. They now own a game lead over my record of 11-12.

If it means further success for the Jazz, I’ll happily continue to be incorrect.

But things won’t get easier any time soon for Utah as they face a tough four-game slate for Week Eight of the 2017-18 NBA season. They’ll kick things off by hosting the Washington Wizards on Monday, then take a quick road trip over to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back on Tuesday. After that, Utah will return home to host the West-leading Houston Rockets on Thursday before concluding the week by heading out East to play the first game of a six-game road trip that begins in Milwaukee on Saturday.

There’s some very good teams in that mix, but even this week can be considered a sort of “calm before the storm” when compared to the madness that follows in the next part of the month, such as the meat of that aforementioned six-game road trip and games against tough opponents such as the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors while playing several games in not that many days.

Therefore, challenging though it will be, if Utah hopes to remain above .500 heading into the new calendar year, it will be absolutely vital that they take advantage this week and set a nice tone moving forward, beginning with Monday’s contest against Washington.

12/4 Utah vs. Washington

7:00 pm MT – AT&T SportsNet/League Pass

Opponent record: 12-10

Season series: Tied 0-0

The Washington Wizards have had some considerable ups and downs of late as they’ve gone 5-5 over their last 10 contests. However, that inconsistent nature is quite understandable considering that part of it is due to the fact that their best player John Wall has been sidelined with a knee injury for the past four games. Even so, the Wizards have gone 2-2 in his latest absence and have earned impressive wins over the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves during that time.

Nevertheless, there’s still no doubting that they’re not quite the same team without Wall and the Jazz will absolutely have to take advantage as a result. Utah played exceptionally well against the Washington Wizards last season and especially without their point man able to play, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that success repeat itself this year.

https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/937397532229099520

But by no means will they be able to sleep on the Wizards as they’ve still got a host of talented and dangerous guys, principally Bradley Beal who’s averaging a team-high 22.6 points while shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from deep. They’ve also got Otto Porter Jr. who’s having a revolutionary season thus far shooting 52.1 percent from the field and an astounding 45.9 percent from deep, proving that he’s worth the hefty contract they extended him.

Kelly Oubre, Jr. has played well of late, too, and truly several Wizards players have risen to the occasion in recent games. Still, their 12-10 record is a pretty good indication of the kind of team they’ve been so far this season and considering how well Utah played against them last year, that it’s being played in Salt Lake City and that John Wall is out of commission, I’m pinning the Jazz to come out on top.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 104, Washington 97

12/5 Utah at Oklahoma City

6:00 pm MT – AT&T SportsNet/League Pass

Opponent record: 9-12

Season series: Jazz lead 1-0

It was all Utah Jazz the last time these two teams faced off as Utah came away with a dominant 96-87 victory despite playing on the second night of a back-to-back. At the time it was viewed as an extremely impressive win that had Jazz fans raving about the team’s chances this year.

In hindsight, considering OKC’s struggles this season and the fact that they’ve started out the year 9-12, the win wasn’t quite as impressive, but it was still a good one nonetheless. I don’t care what kind of chemistry issues the Thunder are having, containing Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony is never an easy task.

However, that’s exactly what Utah did, particularly Westbrook who has enjoyed significant success over the Jazz in the past, but in that bout he went just 2-of-11 from the field for six points. The Jazz are going to need a similar kind of performance if they hope to stop a middling Thunder team but it’s going to be an even tougher challenge this time around as it’s coming not only once again on the second night of a back-to-back but also on the road.

Despite OKC’s issues, they’ve actually been pretty solid within the friendly confines of Chesapeake Energy Arena where they boast a record of 7-3. Therefore, as much as I’d like to pick the Jazz to come out on top, combining their road woes with OKC’s success at home is likely going to result in the game going in the Thunder’s favor.

Not only that, but I’m still convinced that this team, though perhaps it will never be quite as good as we imagined in the preseason, will still get things figured out to some extent. That could happen sooner rather than later if the Thunder build some momentum and topple the Jazz on Tuesday as I believe they will.

My Prediction: Thunder Win

Final Score: Oklahoma City 107, Utah 99

12/7 Utah vs. Houston

8:30 pm MT – TNT

Opponent record: 17-4

Season series: Rockets lead 1-0

The Houston Rockets are dang good and they’ve been on a tear of late as they’ve won nine of their last ten. The first time they met up with the Utah Jazz, the game was practically over in the first quarter as Houston walked all over the Jazz to win 137-110. The Rockets are undefeated since Chris Paul made his return from injury and it’s no stretch to say that Houston is looking every bit as formidable as the Golden State Warriors.

Therefore, the Jazz are certain to have their work cut out for them in this second meeting of the season. Fortunately this time around the game will take place in Salt Lake City, so hopefully a rowdy crowd that will be energized for a nationally televised TNT contest will be rocking and ready to go.

The Jazz will need that kind of boost if they’re to stop Paul as well as James Harden who had an unbelievable game in the last contest between these two teams. He finished with 56 points on an astounding 19-of-25 shooting. He simply could not miss and quite frankly neither could his teammates. It was one of those special nights where Houston looked unstoppable.

Honestly, though, I don’t think Harden and Co. will be able to repeat that shooting barrage on Thursday inside of Vivint Smart Home Arena, so I’m predicting a closer game. Nevertheless, considering how hot the Rockets have been all season long, I’d be quite surprised to see a Jazz team that’s only recently started to right the ship come away victorious, so I’m taking the Rockets by 10 in this contest.

My Prediction: Rockets Win

Final Score: Houston 121, Utah 111

12/9 Utah at Milwaukee

6:30 pm MT – NBATV

Opponent record: 12-9

Season series: Jazz lead 1-0

The Utah Jazz played the Milwaukee Bucks just over a week ago and looked incredible as they rolled to a 121-108 victory. That marks two years in a row now that the Jazz have looked phenomenal against Milwaukee and a victory on Saturday would solidify that dominance even further.

The recent loss to the Jazz aside, though, the Milwaukee Bucks have been playing quite well as they’ve won four of five and seven of ten to elevate themselves all the way up to sixth in the Eastern Conference with their 12-9 record. Not to mention, this game will take place on the road where the Jazz haven’t exactly thrived this year at just 2-7.

And while the Jazz have slowed Giannis Antetokounmpo relatively well in recent bouts, he’s still one of the league’s rising superstars and is more than capable of going off at any moment. Thus, this game certainly can’t be overlooked despite Utah’s recent success against the Bucks.

Even so, I like Utah’s chances. They’ll need to put together a complete game to beat such a good team on the road much like they did against the Orlando Magic a couple weeks back if they hope to win. But as long as they come out with energy and perform similarly to how they did in the first meeting against Milwaukee, I’m feeling confident that the Jazz will come out on top.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 110, Milwaukee 103

Next: Utah Jazz: 2017-18 Northwest Division Comparison – December

Thus, I’m predicting two wins and two losses for the Jazz this week, with each win coming against their Eastern Conference foes and the losses coming to their cohorts in the West. However, they exceeded my expectations last week and it wouldn’t surprise me all that much to see them do it again.

The game against the Thunder could certainly turn out to be a win and although Houston is incredible, Utah’s style bothered them last year, so perhaps Quin Snyder and Co. can break them this year as well. But even if the Jazz go just 2-2 as I’ve predicted that would still keep them above .500 and in good shape for the rest of the month.

There’s undoubtedly going to be some losses with so many tough games in December, but if Utah can lessen the damage as much as possible and just continually log weeks of at least .500, then they could come out of this rough stretch significantly better off than several Jazz fans originally predicted.