Utah Jazz face shorthanded Indiana Pacers in back-to-back bid
By Josh Padmore
The Utah Jazz will look to protect home court on Monday night, something they haven’t done well to this point, and get redemption on the Indiana Pacers.
Following one of the better team victories of the season in Sacramento, the Utah Jazz are right back at it less than 24 hours later. They’re looking to make it back-to-back wins on Monday with a home game against the Indiana Pacers.
Luckily for the Jazz, the Pacers have three key players on the injury report: Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. Turner is expected to play, Sabonis is questionable and Oladipo is doubtful. Oladipo is dealing with a sore knee, while Sabonis and Turner are nursing sprained ankles.
Donovan Mitchell is questionable to play for Utah with a rib contusion.
The Jazz’s struggles to open the season have been well documented. They’re currently 9-11, ranking dead last in the Northwest Division. Over in Indianapolis, the Pacers are 11-8. They’ve had some ups and downs, but their stingy team defense has remained consistent.
That will be the key. The Jazz cannot score under 100 points if they want to win this game. They’ll need to establish the tempo early on and play another team-oriented game. If Sabonis and Turner both play, the Jazz will need big minutes from Derrick Favors. The Pacers like going big against the Jazz. Even if Sabonis is out and Turner does play, the Pacers have another tough one in Kyle O’Quinn on the bench.
Ricky Rubio was stellar against the Pacers a week ago, and had a huge game against Sacramento. Unfortunately, inconsistency has been a big hurdle for Rubio. The Jazz will need to hope Rubio doesn’t run into his inconsistency problems vs. Indy — especially if Mitchell doesn’t play.
The Pacers will want to start their four-game road trip off right. However, I have the redemption-minded Jazz protecting home court and winning this one.
Prediction: Jazz 105, Pacers 99
Next. 20-game Northwest Division Power Rankings. dark
The game will tip-off at 7:00 P.M. MT. The Jazz will be wearing their classic uniforms for the second time this season. The last time they wore them, they defeated the Dallas Mavericks at home.