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Utah Jazz Week 20 Outlook: Jazz face toughest remaining week of ’18-19

By Jared Woodcox

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 23: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz looks on during the game against the Dallas Mavericks on February 23, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 23: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz looks on during the game against the Dallas Mavericks on February 23, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – FEBRUARY 23: Quin Snyder head coach of the Utah Jazz reacts of an officials call during their game against the Dallas Mavericks during their game at the Vivint Smart Home Arena on February 23, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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 Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – FEBRUARY 23: Quin Snyder head coach of the Utah Jazz reacts of an officials call during their game against the Dallas Mavericks during their game at the Vivint Smart Home Arena on February 23, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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 Chris Gardner/Getty Images) /

Week 20 of NBA action is the Utah Jazz’s toughest remaining set of games before they break into a much lighter schedule.

If you’ve followed the Utah Jazz to any degree this season, then you already know the story. Their early-season schedule was a gauntlet, however, it’s been said for weeks upon weeks that they’ll end the year with an extremely easy stretch that could see them undergo a huge leap up the standings.

Along that vein, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we’re past the All-Star break and that foretold stretch is nearly upon us. The bad news – it isn’t here quite yet.

In fact, in Week 20 of action, the Utah Jazz will face a challenging three-game slate against a trio of teams that all currently find themselves in the playoff mix. Now back to the good news – while this will be a challenging week, it’s the last truly completely difficult week the Jazz will face for the remainder of the regular season.

Utah had a challenging week last week as well, as they fell in double overtime to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but then managed to bounce back on the second night of a back-to-back to topple the Dallas Mavericks. That 1-1 result has them at 33-26 in the West, whereas since I correctly predicted the outcome of both games, I’ve moved up to 36-23 on the year.

Ideally the Jazz will dig deep and find some much-needed strength to get through this upcoming Week 20 such that they can surpass me and continue to climb in the standings moving forward. They’ll enjoy a few days off as their first bout of the week falls on Wednesday at home against the LA Clippers.

From there, they’ll turn around and head to the Mile-High City to take on the Denver Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back on Thursday before wrapping up the week at home against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. The Clippers are currently eighth in the West, the Nuggets are second and the Bucks are atop the Eastern Conference, further proving just how tough these three games will be.

And unfortunately Utah doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room for losses. They lead both the seventh-place San Antonio Spurs and eighth-place Clippers by half a game while trailing the fifth-place Houston Rockets by a game. Arising victorious in these challenging bouts could result in a swift surge up the standings whereas losing could lead to a plummet.

I’ll digest each game as well as give my projection for how the Jazz are likely to fare in a daunting Week 20.

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