Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week 14 Outlook, Predictions

The Utah Jazz are in for a busy and important four-game slate in Week 14 where none of the teams they face hold an above .500 record.

With news that Thabo Sefolosha is likely done for the season and after dropping a disappointing game in Charlotte, it seems that each and every passing day just points to the likelihood that the Utah Jazz are going to fail to make the playoffs. Sure, they’ve struggled in Charlotte in recent years making that loss less atrocious, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was a very winnable game and that the Jazz are failing to step up after big wins. They have yet to string together a two-game winning streak in over month.

It was a light Week 13 that saw them go 1-1 with a win over the Washington Wizards and loss to the Charlotte Hornets. I was on the pessimist train last week and picked Utah to go 0-2, so I likewise went 1-1 as well. Those results brought Utah’s record to 17-25 and my predictions record to 20-22.

However, with losses becoming seemingly easier to predict, it wouldn’t surprise me to see my record take a leap as Utah continues to slump. Hopefully they’ll prove me wrong and take advantage of what I previously identified as a key stretch of winnable games, but based on the start they got off to on Friday, I’m feeling less than optimistic.

Utah will be in for a busy Week 14 that fortunately features three of four games at home where they’ve been significantly better than on the road. They’ll start out the week by hosting the Indiana Pacers on Monday, then go on to visit the Sacramento Kings in the lone away game of the week on Wednesday. After that point, they’ll play a home back-to-back on Friday and Saturday against the New York Knicks and LA Clippers, respectively.

The higher number of games in a short period of time will be quite the change from last week’s two-game slate, but playing the majority at home will be a much-needed change of pace. With all that being the case, let’s take a look at how we can expect the Jazz to fare in the first full week following the season’s midway point.

1/15 Utah vs. Indiana

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

Opponent record: 22-20

Season series: Tied 0-0

Despite the fact that the Indiana Pacers were pinned by many during the preseason to be a sure-fire lottery team, they have absolutely exceeded expectations this year and have been a joy to watch. While a recent slump with Victor Oladipo sidelined dropped the Pacers to eighth in the Eastern Conference, they were recently right in the thick of things for the fourth seed in the East and are still just 2.5 games out of that spot.

The heavily criticized Paul George trade from this summer has turned out to be much less lopsided than many presumed considering how spectacular Oladipo, who’s the current frontrunner for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award, and Domantas Sabonis have looked so far this season. The Pacers were able to net two guys who figure to be a key part of their long-term future in exchange for a disgruntled star who had no plans of staying anyway.

While an above-.500 record and impressive wins over elite teams certainly make the Pacers a significant threat, they’ve also been somewhat inconsistent this season. If the Jazz are able to shut down Oladipo and if Myles Turner continues to be sidelined with an elbow injury, then Utah may be able to sneak by, especially since Indiana will be coming into Utah on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Pacers have had a weird habit of falling really far behind early in games this season, then fighting back to earn impressive come-from-behind victories. They did just that in their latest win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in which they previously trailed by 22 points. Considering how poorly the Jazz have played in third quarters recently, they’ll need to be careful to not come out of halftime flat-footed.

Even though the Jazz have under-performed of late, since they’ll finally be back home and this is a back-to-back for the Pacers, this should actually be a very closely contested game and I feel like it’s sort of a toss-up. If Utah can ride the home crowd and out-energize a typically energetic Pacers team, they may be able to come out on top. But if they struggle to get going after a long road trip, Indiana will probably run them off the court.

I imagine the final result will likely be somewhere between those two options, but I’m still pinning the Pacers to come away with a narrow victory over the slumping Utah Jazz.

My Prediction: Pacers Win

Final Score: Indiana 102, Utah 97

1/17 Utah at Sacramento

8:00 pm MT – AT&T SportsNet/League Pass

Opponent record: 13-29

Season series: Tied 0-0

Wednesday’s bout against the Sacramento Kings will be a fun one as the Utah Jazz will have their first chance of the season to go head-to-head with their former starting point guard George Hill. It’s been a frustrating season so far for Hill as his newly joined Kings team finds themselves at dead last in the Western Conference at 13-29 after dropping four straight contests.

The Kings certainly boast some young and promising talent, but it’s obvious that those guys have a long ways to go and that their veterans, such as Hill, aren’t exactly meshing well with the less-experienced players. The Kings are the lowest scoring team in the NBA as they put up just 98 points per game and they don’t have a single player averaging 15 points or more on the year.

The fact that Zach Randolph is leading the team in points with 14.8 per game is probably a pretty telling sign of just how poor Sacramento’s offense is. Utah’s obviously isn’t much to write home about either, but Donovan Mitchell alone might have more offensive firepower than the entire Kings team (I’m obviously being facetious…well sorta).

In other words, Utah should be able to win this match-up pretty handily. The only thing that has me a bit nervous about this game is the fact that it’s on the road where the Jazz have been nothing short of terrible this year. They did manage to steal a game in Washington to elevate their road record to 4-18, but that still does little to instill confidence.

Even so, I think we’ll see the Jazz overcome their road woes for the night and find a way to overwhelm a Sacramento team that’s been lackluster on both ends of the floor.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 110, Sacramento 98

1/19 Utah vs. New York

8:30 pm MT – ESPN

Opponent record: 19-23

Season series: Knicks lead 1-0

In typical New York Knicks fashion, they teased the league and NBA fans into thinking that they could be a playoff team this year, but have seemingly once again reverted back to their woeful ways. After a somewhat promising start, the Knicks have lost eight of their last ten to nosedive to four games under .500 and fall to the 10th seed in the East.

In their defense, they’re only three games out of the eighth spot and the season is far from over, but they need a turnaround and soon. They have also faced a relatively tough schedule of late, but even in games against subpar opponents they have failed to come through.

They did manage to get the better of the Jazz in their first meeting, though, so Utah will need to be better prepared and not overlook a Knicks team that has proven capable of defeating them. Kristaps Porzingis is of course the guy to watch out for, but Tim Hardaway, Jr. (who just returned from injury), Courtney Lee and Jazz fan favorite Enes Kanter (HA!) have all been solid for the Knicks as well.

New York’s lack of depth has been a large reason for their struggles, so hopefully Utah will be able to overwhelm them with solid bench play, especially on their home court. These days it makes me feel uneasy to pin Utah as winners against anybody, but on Friday’s late night ESPN bout, I do believe that Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz will find a way to come out on top against a struggling Knicks team.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 104, New York 99

1/20 Utah vs. LA Clippers

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

Opponent record: 21-21

Season series: Tied 1-1

What a roller coaster season it’s been for the LA Clippers. They started out the league red hot as one of the NBA’s last standing undefeated teams, but between an unbelievable amount of injuries and adapting to life after Chris Paul with several new faces, the Clips took a nosedive from there. At one point, it looked like they were doomed to the NBA lottery as they suffered a nine-game losing streak and eventually fell to a record of 5-11 after starting 4-0.

But they’ve since battled back in a big way to now find themselves dead even at .500 and just a half-game out of the playoff picture. Suddenly, LA is looking alive and well and poised to make a further run from here. One might think that it’s been Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan who have helped push the Clippers to this surprising success, however while they’ve certainly played their part, in actuality it’s been Lou Williams that’s been leading the charge.

Williams is the team’s leading scorer at 23.1 points per game and has been extremely reliable as he’s knocking down well over 40 percent of his attempts from three. He recently dropped 50 points in a huge win over the Golden State Warriors and he has his Clippers team playing exceptionally well of late as they are 8-2 over the last 10 games.

Take all that into consideration and combine it with the fact that Utah has tended to struggle against the Clippers during the regular season and that Saturday’s game will be on the second night of a back-to-back for them and unfortunately I think I have a pretty good idea of how this is going to go. The Clips are red hot and the Utah Jazz, well, as losers of 14 of their last 18, are not.

The Jazz are much better at home than on the road, but even their 13-7 home record isn’t scaring anyone, much less the surging Clippers who have plenty of experience winning at Vivint Smart Home Arena. I’m betting that this one goes to the Clips.

My Prediction: Clippers Win

Final Score: Los Angeles 118, Utah 106

Next: Despite injury, Utah Jazz should aim to keep Thabo Sefolosha

You know it’s a bad sign when you’re feeling overly optimistic by pinning the Jazz to go just 2-2, but I’m feeling that way nonetheless. Fortunately, considering the lackluster competition that they’ll be up against for the most part during Week 14, it’s probably actually pretty reasonable.

Of course, I hope they surprise me and go an even better 3-1 or perhaps 4-0, but considering how poorly they’ve played of late, even a mediocre 2-2 would be a huge step in the right direction. Utah has this week and one more game to start next week to turn things around before they face a daunting stretch of tough opponents once again. Let’s hope they can take advantage this time around or their playoff hopes may be extinguished for good.