Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week 12 Outlook, Predictions

1/7 Utah at Miami

1:30 pm MT – AT&T SportsNet/League Pass

Opponent record: 19-17

Season series: Heat lead 1-0

The Miami Heat have found themselves in and out of the playoff mix in the Eastern Conference all season long, but after winning six of their last ten, they find themselves just above .500 and in seventh place in the East. However, that doesn’t exactly mean they’ve played great of late as they’ve dropped games to both the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks.

Then again, there’s a win over the Boston Celtics sandwiched in there as well, so perhaps like much of the rest of the league (the Jazz included), the Heat are simply inconsistent. As I mentioned previously, they were able to get the better of the Jazz in Salt Lake City earlier in the season, however, I think that the Jazz have figured out a lot since then. And while Utah’s road woes concern me, the fact that Miami isn’t exactly elite defensively gives me hopes that the Jazz will be able to find a way to come out on top.

Not to mention, the Heat have been struggling with injury woes including to James Johnson and Dion Waiters, so with a less than deep roster already, they may be in some trouble to keep up with a relentless Jazz squad that has plenty of talent in reserve despite a couple key injuries themselves.

Nevertheless, the Heat are a scrappy squad that always seem to benefit from unexpected guys stepping up, therefore this game could very well come down to which role players have the biggest nights. Even so, as long as Utah plays with some sort of energy despite being away from home, as I said, I predict that they’ll earn the victory in this one.

Despite only having a trio of road wins, all three of those have come in impressive fashion so perhaps all it will take is a little confidence for the Jazz to get their road swagger back. Earning such a win in Miami would be a great way to get them headed in that direction.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 93, Miami 88

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

There’s a very good chance that I’m just feeling overly optimistic after Utah’s big win over Cleveland (something that I feel like I’ve done on several occasions this season), but I’m pinning the Jazz to start out the new year with a 2-1 record in Week 12. All three games really could go either way, so earning even a pair of victories would be a nice accomplishment.

Utah isn’t going to be able to simply skyrocket back up the standings in one go, but instead they’ll need to chip away at their deficit little by little, week by week. But as the schedule eases up significantly in January, that chipping away will need to start right away as there’s absolute no time for them to delay, especially in the daunting Western Conference.