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Utah Jazz Week Nine Outlook: Jazz aim to battle back to .500

By Jared Woodcox

SAN ANTONIO,TX - DECEMBER 09: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell #45 listen to head coach Quin Snyder AT&T Center on December 9, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO,TX - DECEMBER 09: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell #45 listen to head coach Quin Snyder AT&T Center on December 9, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 25: Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic high-fives his teammates during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 25, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 25: Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic high-fives his teammates during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 25, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

12/15 Utah at Orlando

3:00 pm MT – AT&T SportsNet/NBA TV

Opponent record: 12-14

Season series: Tied 0-0

Jazz fans are all too familiar with inconsistency this season, but it’s felt like a common theme for several teams league-wide thus far. One squad that certainly falls in that category is the Orlando Magic. The Magic have a few big wins and have overall been competitive in most of their contests, however, they’re still far from becoming a powerhouse.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t give Utah any wiggle room to get complacent. Orlando’s frontcourt tandem of Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon is as hard as any to deal with as they have elite scoring and rebounding abilities as well as the capability to stretch the floor.

Those are exactly the kind of players that Utah’s bigs have struggled with this year, so this could very well be a tough matchup for them. However, the good news is that the Magic struggle with a lack of depth and overall have a clunky offense as they struggle to put all their pieces together. Orlando will compete hard and challenge the Jazz, but ultimately I expect Utah to come out on top.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 112, Orlando 108

Next. Utah Jazz fail to surpass .500 record with loss in San Antonio. dark

If the Jazz go 2-1 this week as I’ve projected, they’ll be back at .500 by week’s end. Sure, the expectations for them are still higher than that, but at least it will be a nice step in the right direction as the Jazz aim to whittle away at the hole they’ve dug themselves into so far this season. If they can continue to have winning or .500 weeks leading up to the turn of the calendar year, they’ll be in a great spot for a breakout in the latter part of the season.

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