The Utah Jazz should be able to get the 2018-19 season started out on the right foot as they’ll face a relatively easy opponent in the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
The wait is over, Utah Jazz fans! The Jazz are finally back in action for the 2018-19 regular season!
Beginning at 8:00 PM MT on Wednesday night, the Jazz will make their regular season debut in the same spot where the preseason came to a close – the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento where they’ll take on the Sacramento Kings. We all know how things went the last time these two teams met, with Utah Jazz dominating by a score of 132-93, We’ll see if they can do the same this time around.
Obviously, the regular season is an entirely different animal from the preseason, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Utah display their dominance once again. The Kings are simply outmatched with such a young squad that isn’t exactly bursting with talent. The fact that Bogdan Bogdanovic, one of the Kings finest young players from a season ago, is set to miss the early part of the season will only further emphasize that fact.
And in that preseason bout, the deeper and more experienced Jazz team simply dominated in every possible way. They started the game up 39-10. They’d go on to lead by as many as 44 points. They grabbed 51 rebounds to Sacramento’s 34. They dished out 32 assists compared to the Kings’ 19. They swatted five shots while the Kings blocked just two. Utah shot 60 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from deep while Sacramento went just 34.4 and 16.7 percent, respectively.
The list just goes on and on.
Utah’s elite defense should render the Kings senseless, much like it did in the preseason contest where the young team looked baffled for stretches at how to score against Rudy Gobert and Co. An improved Jazz offense should also give Sacramento fits as they share the ball with ease and generate easy points.
The one area where Utah will need to be cautious is in taking care of the ball and cutting down on turnovers. Turnovers were a reason for concern throughout the preseason, and one of the few areas in which Sacramento topped the Jazz in that preseason contest. Utah turned it over 21 times while the Kings committed 16 giveaways.
It's happening, it's really happening! The Week One Utah Jazz Preview is here! Via @jaredwoodcoxhttps://t.co/OGVkAiHmRo
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Turnovers were a bit of an Achilles heel for the Jazz last season as well, particularly in the early going. So if they’re going to excel, not just against a lackluster team like the Kings where the margin for error is large, but against teams throughout the league, they’re going to need to improve massively in that regard.
Honestly, I’m not too concerned about this season debut contest as Utah truthfully should win convincingly. While they need to take this game seriously, and while I hope to see even cleaner and more precise play than what we’ve seen thus far, in some ways this contest against such a weak opponent feels a bit like an extension of preseason as the Jazz will have a chance to iron out some kinks.
As such, expect some rust, but ultimately I’m quite confident pinning the Jazz as easy winners in this game.
Prediction – Jazz 120, Kings 103
While the Kings aren’t the most exciting opponent to take on for a season debut, the fact that Utah Jazz basketball is back is reason for celebration in and of itself. The Jazz were fantastic last year, and thanks to both internal development and continuity, they ought to be even better this time around.
The 2018-19 campaign is bound to be one to remember for this up-and-coming Jazz squad.