Utah Jazz 2018-19 Week One Outlook, Predictions

10/19 Utah vs. Golden State

8:30 pm MT – ESPN

Opponent record: 0-0 (1-4 in Preseason)

Season series: Tied 0-0

The Utah Jazz have most certainly put the league on notice, as it’s unusual to see them nabbing a nationally televised game so quickly into the season. But lo and behold, the Jazz will kick things off with a bang by playing their home opener this upcoming Friday on ESPN against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

Don’t let Golden State’s lousy 1-4 preseason record fool you. Once the stakes are heightened and games start to mean something, this Warriors squad is going to bring it. Especially since they’ll be playing on national TV against a team that kicked their trash on three occasions last year, you can bet that Golden State will come out strong with something to prove.

With the season being so young, I don’t expect the Warriors to be in their lackadaisical ‘cruise control’ mode that they seem to go through each season as boredom and complacency sneak in to a team that’s simply head and shoulders above the rest of the league. With such being the case, the Jazz will be in for an immense challenge with the defending champs in town.

Nevertheless, don’t expect the Jazz to roll over. They’re bound and determined to prove that they belong in the same conversation as the Warriors and will want to build off the success that saw them topple them three times last season. The Jazz are built to challenge the Warriors with an elite defense, a difficult-to-contain big man in Rudy Gobert, a hard-to-defend team offensive approach and of course the crafty Donovan Mitchell.

The Utah faithful will be out in droves for this contest and the Jazz will want to put on a show for their home fans in their first contest of the year within Vivint Smart Home Arena, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see a playoff-like atmosphere despite this being one of the first contests of the season.

In the Warriors’ first game of 2018-19, they host the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team many experts have pinned above the Jazz this year, so those two contests should serve as a nice measuring stick between three teams that expect to challenge for top spots in the West.

In all honesty, I think the Jazz can win this game. The Warriors will want to get off to a good start, but let’s be real, they don’t exactly start caring all that much until the postseason comes around. Meanwhile, the Jazz are bringing a cohesive bunch with a lot to prove that will want to establish a habit of defending home court from the get-go. Not only that, but Utah dominated Golden State in the regular season last year, and we could see those winning ways put into practice once again this time around.

Nevertheless, I unfortunately am going to have to go with the Warriors picking up the W in this one. The Jazz may very well challenge Golden State throughout the season, but with the 2018-19 campaign being so new, I think we’ll see an excited and focused Warriors team that will be too much to top. It’s no secret that they’re the most talented team in the league, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them pull out this early win over the Jazz on Friday.

Regardless of the outcome, though, I think we’ll see a close one as two giants in the West seek to set the tone and assert their dominance in this early matchup.

My Prediction: Warriors Win

Final Score: Golden State 107, Utah 102

So it may not be the most exciting way to start the season, but I’m pinning the Jazz at a pedestrian 1-1. However, when you start out against one of the best teams the league has ever seen, logging an early loss is nothing to be ashamed of. If the Jazz fall on Friday, you can still bet that they’ll put together an impressive 2018-19 campaign.

Not only that, but I could very well be dead wrong. A motivated, improved and deep Utah Jazz squad could very well come out firing on all cylinders and bring the hammer down on the Warriors. Let’s hope that such is exactly the case and it’s myself and my predictions that start out 1-1 instead of the Jazz.