Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week 17 Outlook, Predictions

The Utah Jazz will look to extend their five-game winning streak as they face yet another road-heavy slate in Week 17 of the 2017-18 season.

So, the Utah Jazz went 3-0 last week in a slate that featured the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. Oh, and not only that but leading scorer Donovan Mitchell was out of commission for the latter of those two. Raise your hand if you saw that coming!

If your hand’s up, you’re either a wizard or a pathological liar.

But jokes aside, what an incredible week for the Utah Jazz as they blew out the Warriors and Phoenix Suns by 30-plus points, then held on to earn a gritty road win over the San Antonio Spurs. Utah has suddenly found another gear and they’ve played sensationally of late. The offense is humming with three straight games of reaching or surpassing the 120-point mark and the defense has been staunch. All of a sudden, this looks like a team that truly could make a push to the playoffs.

I was among the many that was feeling less than optimistic about Utah’s chances last week. Sure, they played well in Week 15 and I thought there was a chance they could steal one of the two games against either Golden State or San Antonio, but I never thought they’d come out and get all three. Therefore, by going 3-0 last week, the Jazz raised their record to 24-28, now putting them dead even with my projections record after I went 1-2.

Hopefully the Jazz can continue to surge and not just catch up to me, but also to their Western Conference foes that find themselves just ahead of Utah in the standings.

To do so, they’ll have to take advantage of a huge week ahead that starts out on the road on Monday against one of the very teams that the Jazz will be competing with for a playoff spot – the New Orleans Pelicans. Since a big win over the Houston Rockets which ended sadly in a season-ending Achilles injury for DeMarcus Cousins, the Pels have struggled and dropped three of their last four.

Ideally that means the rising Jazz will catch the slumping Pelicans at the right time and be able to come out on top.

From there, Utah will close out their four-game road trip against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, before returning home for the lone home game of the week on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets. Last of all, the Jazz will hit the road once again on Sunday where they’ll visit the Portland Trail Blazers, another team they could be grappling with for playoff positioning.

That makes for some extremely crucial games this week, all of which are very winnable, particularly in comparison to the games in which Utah arose victorious this past week. Crazy as it might seem and difficult though it will be with such a road-heavy schedule, the Jazz will be bringing a five-game winning streak into this week with a chance to extend it to nine games if they can continue their recent hot play against beatable teams.

It would be an impressive feat if they were to do that, so let’s dive in to each game and see what the chances are of that happening.

2/5 Utah at New Orleans

6:00 pm MT – AT&T SportsNet/League Pass

Opponent record: 28-24

Season series: Series tied 1-1

Before looking at this first opponent of the week, let’s get one thing straight. If Utah plays as they did last week, they truly are capable of beating all four of these teams in Week 17. However, as fatigue sets in on a long trip, the tricky part is knowing which ones they’ll truly be able to come out on top in and in which ones they’ll ultimately falter.

The Pelicans haven’t looked great since losing Boogie, minus their win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. However, with the likes of Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday leading the charge, they’ll be a tough out. They gave the Jazz all they could handle in the first two meetings in Salt Lake, as the first one required a 41-point explosion from Donovan Mitchell to earn the victory and in the second one, New Orleans was simply too much to handle.

I’m on the fence about my prediction on this one. With only Davis to worry about and not Cousins, the tandem of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors should be able to hold him in check. However, at the same time, there’s a part of me that feels like this win streak has already been too mind-blowing, has to come to an end at some point, and a road win against New Orleans could very well be that instance.

So while I might very well eat my words, I’m going to predict that Monday is when the Jazz finally slip up as their heavy travel catches up to them and the Pelicans play a determined game back on their home court knowing the potential playoff significance of the contest. Whichever team wins on Monday would take a series lead with one more contest remaining next month, which should be a huge motivator for both teams.

My Prediction: Pelicans Win

Final Score: New Orleans 101, Utah 98

2/7 Utah at Memphis

6:00 pm MT – AT&T SportsNet/League Pass

Opponent record: 18-33

Season series: Series tied 0-0

Things have gone from bad to worse for the Memphis Grizzlies this season. From losing Mike Conley for the season to the fallout surrounding former head coach Mike Fizdale to a team that has dropped out of playoff contention, it’s been a rough 2017-18. The Grizzlies have lost four of their last five contests and have struggled to find any semblance of consistency this year.

And the good news for the Jazz is that Memphis’ leading scorer this season, Tyreke Evans, has been shut down until after the trade deadline as the reeling Grizzlies aim to deal him. Evans has been one of the bright points of Memphis’ season, but given the fact that the Grizzlies are aiming to retool and that Tyreke will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, it makes sense that they would look to get something out of him.

The Jazz will still have to deal with Marc Gasol, who continues to play well despite lessened efficiency this season. However, with little else around him, I feel confident that the Jazz will be able to keep him and his Grizzlies teammates in check despite this game being on the road in the final contest of a long stint.

Utah has played well of late and are seemingly reversing their former road woes while Memphis has been absolutely struggling, so this is a contest I fully expect the Jazz to win.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 112, Memphis 104

2/9 Utah vs. Charlotte

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

Opponent record: 22-29

Season series: Hornets lead 1-0

This contest is an interesting one to predict considering that it’s the first game after the trade deadline and one or both teams could very well look significantly different as both have been presumed to be active leading up to the deadline. Throwing that to one side, though, since it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen in regards to trades, this will be a challenging contest for the Jazz.

The Charlotte Hornets have been a tough match-up for Utah especially as Kemba Walker has simply had his way with them. Such was exactly the case in the two teams’ previous meeting as the Hornets stifled the Jazz in a low-scoring 11-point victory which saw Walker finish with 22 points thanks to some big shots which seemed to halt every attempted Jazz run.

And even though the Hornets have a subpar record, they’ve played somewhat better of late with recent big wins over the likes of the Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards. Figure all that together, and even though the Jazz hold the better record and will be playing on their home court, by no means is this contest a “gimme”.

Nevertheless, if Utah’s recent play is any indication and if they can bring the energy and discipline that they’ve displayed of late into Friday’s game, I think they’ll be able to topple this Hornets team, despite some past struggles. Not to mention, the Hornets are just 7-15 on the road (which thanks to Utah’s latest spurt is now worse than the Jazz’s road record!) and Vivint Smart Home Arena isn’t exactly an easy place to win.

Plus besides, the Jazz will be donning their city uniforms once again, which apparently gave them magic powers last time around. So I’m thinking this one will be smooth sailing for the Jazz in an exciting home bout.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 118, Charlotte 92

2/11 Utah at Portland

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

Opponent record: 29-23

Season series: Jazz lead 1-0

The Portland Trail Blazers have been a bit of an interesting team this year. Their solid 29-23 record has them firmly in sixth place in the West. They boast an All-Star in Damian Lillard and a fringe All-Star in C.J. McCollum, creating one of the most potent backcourts in the NBA. Of late, they’ve won seven of their last ten, so it certainly appears that all should be well in Rip City.

However, they’ve had some struggles against fellow playoff teams, partially evidenced by their 4-5 division record, and have dealt with their fair share of inconsistency this season. Still, they typically enjoy a staunch home court advantage and playing in the Moda Center has been far from easy for the Utah Jazz. They’ve lost both contests there the past two seasons and have had an extremely hard time shutting down Portland’s prolific backcourt in those games.

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/959593599917797377

And considering that, aside from a recent spurt, the Jazz have struggled on the road overall, it’s hard to see them suddenly finding success in Portland considering how poorly they’ve played there in the past. The Jazz were able to eke out a narrow victory over the Blazers in Salt Lake City early in the season thanks to an amazing game from Ricky Rubio, but that may be hard to replicate in such a hostile environment.

This is an important divisional game that could have playoff implications and I believe that it’s one the Jazz absolutely can win. But considering their road struggles and how well Portland tends to play at home, I think this one is going to go the way of the Blazers.

My Prediction: Blazers Win

Final Score: Portland 103, Jazz 95

Next: Jazz vs Spurs reaction: O’Neale and Rubio carry Jazz to 5th straight win

So while you might think I’d follow my usual trend and jump on the overly optimistic bandwagon after a stunning 3-0 week last week, instead I’ve decided to play it more conservatively by pinning Utah to go 2-2, remembering that this Jazz team could very well come back down to earth, especially with a tough week that features three of four games on the road.

Is it possible that this team has truly turned the corner and is therefore capable of beating all four of these opponents? Certainly! Do I hope they prove me wrong and do just that? Of course! Do I think that’s reasonable? Not exactly…

Nine wins in a row is a crazy thing to suppose will be accomplished by a sub-.500 team, so it’s more than likely that Utah drops one or more of its road contests this week. But even if they go 2-2 or an even better 3-1, they will still be in a decent spot considering how their schedule eases up in the coming weeks.

Let’s hope that the Jazz can continue rolling and keep pushing towards the postseason.