Jazz-Nets Preview: Will the real Utah Jazz please stand up?

Can the Jekyll and Hyde Utah Jazz find a way to win when they visit the Brooklyn Nets in the Barclays Center on Wednesday?

It’s been quite the start to the 2018-19 season so far for the Utah Jazz. Sitting at 9-12 at the quarter mark, there’s no questioning that they’ve looked good at times and downright awful at others. Sunday’s win in Sacramento was an example of the former. It was the most complete game the Jazz have put together all year as they stomped the Kings in convincing fashion after having fallen to them in the previous meeting just days prior.

But Monday night’s contest against the Indiana Pacers was a drastic example of the latter. The Utah Jazz got ambushed on their home court by a whopping 33 points by a team that was without its best player in Victor Oladipo. For the record, since acquiring Oladipo, the Pacers are winless in games that he hasn’t suited up for except for two – both contests this season against the Jazz.

Sure, the Jazz were likewise without their leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, but you thought that no Mitchell and no Oladipo would have at least leveled the playing field. Instead, Indiana ran away with an easy victory.

So after the past two showings that were polar opposites, all I can ask is, will the real Utah Jazz please stand up? Are we the team that challenged the Golden State Warriors, losing on a last second tip-in? Or are we the team that got blown out by Dallas by 50 points? Are we the team that won three straight on the road in Houston, New Orleans and Dallas? Or are we the team that’s a measly 2-6 at home?

Are we still a playoff team or do we, for lack of better words, just stink?

Unfortunately, in all those pairs of questions, the latter is looking more true than the former. However, the good news is that, while the excuse is getting tiresome, the season is still young and the Jazz certainly remain in a position to turn things around, especially once the schedule finally eases up in the back half of the season.

In the immediate future, though, while the Jazz continue to travel this week with a trio of games out East, their opponents are actually easing up quite substantially in the upcoming slate. They’ll face three teams at or below .500 in their next three contests beginning with Wednesday’s bout against the Brooklyn Nets.

The question is – which Jazz team will we see? Can we please get the good version of the Jazz this time around? Or is that version the actual outlier, the exception to the rule.

It’s still anyone’s guess as to which is the case there, but time is running out for Utah to prove the contrary. Fortunately, I’d say they have a pretty good shot in Brooklyn on Wednesday. The Nets have struggled of late, particularly due to the loss of Caris LeVert who was the team’s leading scorer and was off to an exceptional start. An unfortunate leg injury may very well cost him his entire season, though there’s optimism that he could return this year.

In his absence, the Nets have relied heavily on the likes of D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris who have all been solid, if not spectacular, this season. The Nets’ biggest issues are likely their lack of experience and depth as they simply don’t have the talent across their roster to compete with the best teams in the league. However, what they lack in talent, they make up for in relentless hustle, energy and effort, three things the Jazz have severely lacked this year.

For that reason, the Nets can’t be overlooked. They may not be able to outmatch teams talent-wise, but they can certainly outwork them. And that’s what underrated head coach Kenny Atkinson has instilled in his squad this season.

The large gap between Brooklyn’s offense and defense is further evidence of their high effort though oftentimes weakness in discipline and focus. They’re currently 10th in the league in offensive rating at 110.1. Meanwhile, they’re just 24th in the league in defensive rating at 111. The Nets have the aggression and effort to put up points, but don’t always execute well on defense.

In years past, this would have created an excellent matchup for the Jazz. As a reputed defensive juggernaut themselves, if teams were weak on defense, the Jazz could usually overcome their own typically mediocre offense and shut the other team down sufficiently to win. Unfortunately, this season the Jazz have been worse on offense and their defense has been putrid as well.

With such being the case, there’s a good chance that the up-tempo Nets may very well find a way to run past the Jazz and earn the victory, especially if Utah’s defense isn’t clicking and their shots continue to fail to fall as they have nearly all season long now.

It’s been tough to predict what the Jazz are going to do on any given night this season because, well, as I said, the real version of this team has yet to consistently show face. However, I’m still leaning on the side of optimism that this team that showed so much promise last season can once again figure it out. That said, I’m predicting a bounce-back game for the Jazz where they’ll defeat a hard-working but poorly skilled Brooklyn Nets team at the Barclays Center.

Especially if Donovan Mitchell is back in action, which there’s been no official report as of this writing that he will be but I have a feeling he will, the Jazz should have the required edge to get the W. Brooklyn doesn’t have the bigs to deal with Utah’s frontcourt, nor the overall talent to match wits.

Not only that, but due to the oddness of how Utah’s home games have fallen on the schedule, they’ve been significantly better on the road than at home. Therefore, it’s not unreasonable to expect that they can get win number 10 on Wednesday.

Prediction – Jazz 112, Nets 101

The Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets will tip off on Wednesday at 5:30 PM MT. Stay tuned to TheJNotes.com for updates on Donovan Mitchell and the rest of the Jazz band leading up to the contest.