The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz Week Eight Outlook: Can Jazz turn things around with brief home stand?

By Jared Woodcox

The Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) sits on the ground after being fouled by Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert (27) with the score tied at 100 as Utah's Ricky Rubio (3) argues the call on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Fla. (Patrick Farrell/Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images)
The Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) sits on the ground after being fouled by Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert (27) with the score tied at 100 as Utah's Ricky Rubio (3) argues the call on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Fla. (Patrick Farrell/Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 02: Ricky Rubio #3, Joe Ingles #2 and Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz look on against the Miami Heat during the first half at American Airlines Arena on December 2, 2018 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 02: Ricky Rubio #3, Joe Ingles #2 and Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz look on against the Miami Heat during the first half at American Airlines Arena on December 2, 2018 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

The Utah Jazz will look to take advantage of a two-game home stand during a three-contest slate in Week Eight of NBA action.

We’re now 24 games into the 2018-19 NBA season, and the Utah Jazz remain as confusing as ever. Despite a great chance to return to .500 on the season, the Jazz instead came up disappointingly short in their most recent bout in Miami. After taking a 19-point lead early in the game, the Jazz gave up an appalling 20-0 run and then couldn’t close the contest out down the stretch.

Sure, weary legs, unfavorable whistles and other factors played a part, but when all was said and done, the Jazz’s poor decision making was the main contributor to the poor loss. The defeat in Miami was a fitting way to end a previously up and down week. The Jazz started out on the lowest of notes as they were decimated by the Indiana Pacers once again sans Victor Oladipo on Monday.

They then went on to post solid wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets then got off to a good start in Miami before faltering to a team that has been dramatically impacted by injuries. Therefore, the roller coaster continued as the Jazz went 2-2 for the week. I performed even worse than they did by getting all my predictions wrong save the win in Brooklyn, so I went just 1-3, knotting us back up again, this time at 11-13.

The Jazz have had a rough schedule to start the season that has featured several road games, and even their stops at home have been very brief, making it hard to build any momentum. That oddly enough has led to a solid 9-7 record on the road, but it just so happens to be counterbalanced by an abysmal 2-6 record within Vivint Smart Home Arena. Yikes.

Thus, while one might assume that finally being back home would be a good thing for Utah, that may not necessarily be the case. Even so, they’ll start the week off on Tuesday by hosting the erratic San Antonio Spurs, followed by a second home game on Thursday against the under-achieving Houston Rockets.

Finally, they’ll wrap up the week once again on the road as they’ll play the San Antonio Spurs yet again on Sunday night at the AT&T Center. That continues what’s been another odd trend for the Jazz of playing the same team multiple times over the course of a week.

All three of Utah’s upcoming opponents have been about as inconsistent as the Jazz have, as the new-look Spurs find themselves in 12th in the West with an 11-12 record while the Rockets are only slightly better at 11-11 for 10th place. Can the Jazz build some momentum with a two-game home stand against teams that have been about as perplexing as themselves? Let’s take a closer look to try to determine that answer.

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