Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets: Keys to winning season series

DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 26: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz dunks the ball around Will Barton #5 of the Denver Nuggets against the Denver Nuggets on December 26, 2017 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 26: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz dunks the ball around Will Barton #5 of the Denver Nuggets against the Denver Nuggets on December 26, 2017 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
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DENVER, CO – DECEMBER 26: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz dunks the ball around Will Barton #5 of the Denver Nuggets against the Denver Nuggets on December 26, 2017 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – DECEMBER 26: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz dunks the ball around Will Barton #5 of the Denver Nuggets against the Denver Nuggets on December 26, 2017 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Utah Jazz will look to overcome their road woes and win the season series against the Denver Nuggets as they take the court tonight.

As my J-Notes colleague John Keeffer pointed out earlier today, tonight’s contest between the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets is a big one for the Jazz as they’ll have the opportunity to win the season series with a victory this evening. Although the Jazz find themselves a little ways out of playoff contention at the moment, owning that series win could be instrumental should any tiebreaker situations come into play for playoff seeding.

But before getting too far down that road of qualifying for postseason play, Utah needs to focus on the here and now by figuring out a way to get back on track as soon as possible. Despite a recent exhilarating win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Jazz immediately reverted back to their woeful ways as they dropped a very much winnable game to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/949323931361488897

That’s been essentially the pattern for the Jazz of late as the last time they earned consecutive victories was over a month ago. Unfortunately, getting back to their winning ways and winning the season series against the Nuggets is going to be easier said than done for a number of reasons. Not only have the Jazz struggled of late while the Nuggets have played quite well, but Utah has been abysmal on the road whereas Denver has dominated on their home court.

Thus, several recent trends are going to have to change for Utah to come out on top. In order for them to do just that, they’ll need to excel in the following key areas during tonight’s game.