November 9, 2018: Boston Celtics vs. Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz fans will finally get their chance to give Gordon Hayward a proper welcome back to Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Now let me be clear, I have never been a huge fan of booing opposing former players, but if anyone deserves it, it is Gordon Hayward. The way he left Utah has been talked about ad nauseam, so I won’t add anything further than saying, it’ll be good to have Hayward back in Utah.
The real reason I have this game here, though, is because the Celtics are an incredibly exciting team for this upcoming season, and look to be potentially the best team in the Eastern Conference.
The potential lineup of Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford is fascinating to think about. That lineup has a real chance of being one of the best in the league, and could legitimately compete with the Golden State Warriors in a series. The Jazz actually have a solid lineup to compete against them, though, being able to play Ricky Rubio or Dante Exum, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Jae Crowder and Rudy Gobert.
This will also give us a great opportunity to see the growth in second year stars Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum. In their two head-to-head matchups last season, Mitchell outscored Tatum 39-23.
Tatum blossomed in a big way during the playoffs, though, and appears to be putting in work with Kobe Bryant this offseason. Heading into next season, both players should show major improvement, and it will be fun to see the two young guns going head-to-head.