Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week 21 Outlook, Predictions

The Utah Jazz face an absolutely vital four-game stretch, including a bout with the New Orleans Pelicans, in the 21st week of the 2017-18 season.

Between a 3-2 record and some sloppy play, the Utah Jazz haven’t exactly thrived since the All-Star break, but they were finally able to earn consecutive victories last week for the first time since their 11-game winning streak, so that was a nice mini-step in the right direction. After losing to the Houston Rockets on Monday, the Jazz went on to win two games in as many nights with a chippy victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves then with a somewhat sloppy win over the Sacramento Kings.

The results of those three games went precisely as I predicted they would last week, which finally brought my projections record back above .500 at 32-31. The Jazz, meanwhile, continue to raise their win percentage as they now sit at 33-30.

In a typical season, one would expect that a record of 33-30 would be enough to have the Jazz in the playoff mix. Unfortunately, this season is anything but typical. Instead, the Western Conference, especially seeds 3-10, is an absolute bloodbath, with only four games separating those teams. Even a mere two-game losing streak could condemn any team from a top-4 spot to being in danger of falling out entirely.

In other words, particularly since the Jazz are currently on the outside looking in at 10th place, every game they play will be absolutely vital and they need the teams ahead of them in the standings to somehow start losing, even though many of them, most notably the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans and Denver Nuggets, have been playing really well.

With that scenario, the Jazz face a challenging and crucial stretch in Week 21 of action. Their next ten games are all against beatable opponents meaning that this could be a great opportunity for them to go on yet another big run. However, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be without its challenges. None of Utah’s upcoming four games this week will be cake walks, and two particularly stand out as exceedingly dangerous.

They’ll begin with the easiest opponent of the bunch on Monday as they host the struggling Orlando Magic who find themselves in the huge clump of teams hovering around the 18 to 20-win mark that are battling more for lottery position than anything else. Then the Jazz will travel to Indiana on Wednesday to take on a dangerous Pacers team that has not only exceeded expectations as a whole this year, but typically has a hostile home environment. Indy handily defeated Utah in Salt Lake City and will present quite a challenge once again.

Utah stays on the road for the final two bouts as they’ll travel to Memphis on Friday to take on the dwindling Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis’ record should lead one to believe this would be a win for the Jazz, but the Grizzlies have given Utah issues before and certainly can’t be overlooked on their home court.

Last of all is potentially the game of the month as the Utah Jazz will visit the red hot New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday in a battle of two teams vying for playoff positioning. During the height of Utah’s 11-game win streak, it appeared that the Pels were the team they were most likely to catch, especially after DeMarcus Cousins went down with an Achilles injury. Instead, New Orleans has rattled off seven straight wins to surge to fifth in the West and looks like one of the toughest opponents in the league.

It’s entirely possible that Sunday’s contest ends up having a direct result on where both teams finish in the standings come season’s end.

With that stage set, you’ve probably got a pretty good idea of just how important and potentially nerve-wracking this week could be. Even so, let’s dive into each game and opponent a little deeper to dissect Utah’s chances for success in Week 21 of the 2017-18 season.