The Utah Jazz seek their third straight win overall following a disappointing week as they host the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday evening.
The Utah Jazz got back to their winning ways earlier in the week by toppling the Phoenix Suns on the road then turning around to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves on the subsequent night in Salt Lake City. Now after a brief reprieve, the Jazz are back in action at home where they’ll host the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets aren’t exactly a powerhouse squad, but they still find themselves within the playoff mix in the much shallower Eastern Conference at seventh place. They’ve been in sixth for much of the season, but recent hot play by the Detroit Pistons has pushed them past Brooklyn by a mere percentage point.
If the Jazz have their way tonight, though, they’ll push the Nets a little further down. Utah certainly got the best of them in the previous meeting in Brooklyn as they came away with a 101-91 victory that came due largely to an impressive fourth quarter that saw the Jazz outscore the Nets 31-13. Truth be told, Brooklyn outplayed the Jazz for much of the contest, particularly in a dominant third quarter, but fortunately Utah pulled it out.
The reason for the Nets’ success for much of the contest was due to the crafty coaching of Kenny Atkinson who remains one of the more underrated coaches in the Association. They also benefited from a well-balanced attack with each of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Jarrett Allen, D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie scoring 14 points or more. This has been Brooklyn’s mantra for much of the season – a team-first approach that has helped them exceed expectations in the East.
But while their strength as a whole has been their most daunting aspect, the Nets also enjoy some excellent individual talent. All-Star D’Angelo Russell is putting up over 20 points per game and Spencer Dinwiddie isn’t far behind with 17.5. Meanwhile, Caris LeVert, who got off to an All-Star caliber start before suffering a serious injury and wasn’t available for last contest against the Jazz, is slowly rounding back into form.
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He’s scored in double figures in three of his last five contests and is certainly a guy the Jazz will have to be prepared for. All told, this young Nets team boasts exciting and gifted players from top to bottom and are perfectly designed to catch unfocused teams, even superior ones, unaware.
That’s exactly the kind of team the Jazz can’t afford to be tonight. They’re clearly the better of the two squads with a much better veteran presence, greater depth and more prolific talent, but complacency has been one of their worst enemies this year. Fortunately, I think the poor play from a week ago in which Utah dropped winnable games to both the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies causing them to slip to eighth has been a much-needed wake up call for them.
Since those losses, they’ve looked much more locked-in as they aim to close the season out on a high. I believe they’ll continue to do so by earning their third straight victory overall this evening.
My Prediction: Jazz 111, Nets 101
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