Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week 16 Outlook, Predictions

The Utah Jazz come into the 16th week of the 2017-18 NBA season with some nice momentum, but will be in for some tough challenges.

Well, the Utah Jazz went 2-1 last week just as I predicted. But I never could have foreseen the way they’d go about it. Utah began the week by dropping arguably their most disappointing loss of the season as they were man-handled by the lowly Atlanta Hawks. It was a lackluster performance that had fans thinking that the team had hit a new low.

But how did they respond from there? Oh, you know, only by winning two straight games for the first time since early December, both of which were played on the road and one against the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Yep, that’s right Utah bounced back by beating the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors in a pair of electrifying games that produced some hope that perhaps this Jazz team has turned the corner.

While the Jazz went 2-1 in Week 15, I went just 1-2 in my predictions as I expected them to beat Atlanta and lose to the Raptors. Therefore, while the Jazz raised their record to 21-28, mine dropped to 23-26. If Utah can continue to catch up to me, I’ll be more than happy, though.

But it won’t be easy for them to continue to improve this upcoming week. About the only favorable thing about this week is that they get three days off to get ready for the first game. Other than that, it could be tough sledding. They’ll start out on Tuesday against the reigning champion Golden State Warriors in their lone home game of the week. The Jazz will be rolling out their new city jerseys and city court making for an exciting night regardless of the outcome.

From there, they’ll hit the road to take on the Phoenix Suns on Friday. The lowly Suns and their dismal defense should be viewed as an easy win for the Jazz, but they dropped an ugly game there earlier in the year and despite Utah’s latest two victories, I’m not entirely convinced that they’re over their road woes that have been so prevalent this year.

Last of all, on the second night of a back-to-back, the Jazz will face off against the San Antonio Spurs on the road on Saturday. The Jazz actually hold the series lead over the Spurs who, despite still ranking third in the Western Conference, have had their share of ups and downs this year as they try to navigate through key injuries, most notably to Kawhi Leonard.

So despite a quick home stop against the Warriors on Tuesday, the Jazz will once again spend most of the week on the road. If it’s felt like they’ve been on the road more than home lately, that wouldn’t be far from the truth. After this week, the Jazz will have played 28 games on the road and 24 at home. More recently, since December 5th, 17 of their 25 games have been on the road.

Fortunately, that means some nice home stands are coming soon, but the Jazz will still have to get through a tough slate this week before things start to ease up. With that being the case, let’s take a closer look at what they’ll be up against in Week 16 of NBA action.