The Utah Jazz will look to earn some payback on Sunday against a Sacramento Kings team that thoroughly outplayed them earlier in the week.
It’s been a rough stretch for the Utah Jazz and their loyal fans as the team has suffered three straight losses and dropped five of their last six contests. That poor play has dropped them to 8-11 on the season, good for second to last in the deep Western Conference. It’s still too early to panic, but as we reach the quarter-mark, it’s definitely not too early to start feeling quite nervous about what the 2018-19 season will hold for the Jazz.
In their next contest on Sunday evening, they’ll look to turn things around as they go up against a team they lost to just a few nights ago, the Sacramento Kings. After a grueling five-game road trip, Utah returned to Salt Lake City for a single contest that likely felt more like just another stop on the trip than an actual homecoming as they were quite easily toppled by the Kings.
Now, one might view this as an embarrassing loss, and in some ways it was due to how poorly the Jazz played. However, falling to Sacramento is no longer as surprising as it once was. The young squad is off to a solid 10-8 start and has logged multiple wins over good opponents. That said, if the Jazz still have any shred of hope for becoming elite this year, defeating a middle-of-the-pack Western Conference team on their home court should be quite doable.
Unfortunately, the Jazz haven’t been doing much beating of anybody of late, so they’ll likely be in for yet another challenge when they head to Sacramento on Sunday. Fortunately for the Jazz, that contest will be the second night of a back-to-back for the Kings who have to visit the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Ideally, the Jazz will benefit from taking on a weary Kings team and be able to earn a much-needed, confidence-building win.
However, it will take more than counting on tired legs for the Jazz to arise victorious. The Kings are a young squad that will likely bounce back quickly from the games on consecutive nights and be fully prepared to do battle with Utah. While the Jazz’s transition D has been forgettable for most of the season, the Kings have thrived in the fast break where they lead the league with 22.2 such points per game.
De’Aaron Fox and Co. did an effective job of running Utah off the floor in the most recent meeting, so that’s something the Jazz will absolutely have to tune up. Not only that, but Willie Cauley-Stein and the rest of Sacramento tore Utah up in the paint to the tune of 58-42. Unsurprisingly as a result, the Kings out-shot the Jazz significantly as well, and essentially out-played them in every facet.
If the Jazz hope to turn things around to dish out some payback to the Kings on their home floor, they’ll need to not only rediscover their recently non-existent shooting, but also button up on D both in transition and around the rim in general. The Kings have some formidable young talent, but that doesn’t mean they’re considered a juggernaut on either end of the floor. You wouldn’t have known that from how things shaped up last time these two squads faced off, but the Jazz still should demand more of themselves.
The substantial statistical differences between Utah Jazz wins and losses paints a pretty distinct and alarming picture. Via @john_keefferhttps://t.co/TB3wPH7Rfu
— The J-Notes (@TheJNotes) November 23, 2018
Earlier in the week, I pinned the Jazz as winners in this contest, taking advantage of a tired Kings team and coming out on top. Unfortunately, recent bouts have me feeling less than confident in the Jazz’s chances.
If they play the same level of D they did in Los Angeles on Friday and even shoot at an average mark from the field and from deep, they should still win. But I’m not sure they can do even that. Especially with Donovan Mitchell‘s status up in the air after he left Friday’s bout with a rib contusion, it’s hard to feel overly optimistic about the Jazz coming out on top.
As such, I think we’ll see the struggles continue for a road-weary Jazz team. I’m pinning them to fall yet again to a surging Sacramento Kings squad.
Prediction: Kings 102, Jazz 94
The Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz tip-off on Sunday at 6:00 PM from the Golden 1 Center.