The J-Notes
Fansided

Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week 16 Outlook, Predictions

By Jared Woodcox

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: The Utah Jazz celebrates during the game against the LA Clippers on January 20, 2018 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: The Utah Jazz celebrates during the game against the LA Clippers on January 20, 2018 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 10: Draymond Green #23 and Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors celebrate during the game against the LA Clippers on January 10, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. 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 Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 10: Draymond Green #23 and Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors celebrate during the game against the LA Clippers on January 10, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. 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 Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /

1/30 Utah vs. Golden State

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

Opponent record: 39-10

Season series: Warriors lead 1-0

About a month ago when the Utah Jazz faced the Golden State Warriors, they were able to keep it pretty close up until halftime. Unfortunately, the Warriors broke through in the second half and walked away with a pretty easy win. The Warriors have been an exceptional third quarter team, whereas the Jazz have struggled mightily in that period.

As I mentioned, the Jazz will be busting out their new city jerseys and court for this game, so there should be quite a lot of buzz and excitement. Hopefully, that will instill them with some momentum and energy, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to beat a dominant Warriors team.

The Warriors certainly appear to be in championship form as they’ve won six of their last seven contests which includes big-time wins over the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors. Golden State once again boasts four All-Stars in this year’s edition of the big event and each of them – Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson –  have played worthy of that recognition.

That’s obviously a lot of firepower to stop and few teams have been able to do so. As cool as it would be to see Utah come out and earn a big win over the reigning champs, their lack of consistency on either end of the floor coupled with their lack of star power will probably result in them falling short.

The Jazz were once considered a reasonably tough match-up for the Warriors, but they haven’t prevailed much at all in recent years and are even less formidable now, so I’m predicting that Golden State will come away with a relatively comfortable win over the Jazz.

My Prediction: Warriors Win

Final Score: Golden State 120, Utah 101

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