The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz Week 23 Outlook: Four-game road trip vs. lottery squads

By Jared Woodcox

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 27: Joe Ingles #2 of the Utah Jazz celebrates during the game against the LA Clippers on February 27, 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 27: Joe Ingles #2 of the Utah Jazz celebrates during the game against the LA Clippers on February 27, 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 – MARCH 04: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz celebrates a play during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 4, 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 Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MARCH 04: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz celebrates a play during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 4, 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 Alex Goodlett/Getty Images) /

The Utah Jazz have a great opportunity to build on their current three-game winning streak as they’ll visit four lottery-bound teams in Week 23.

The Utah Jazz slipped momentarily to eighth place in the West last week after falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but luckily they were able to recover quite well from there, rattling off three consecutive victories. None of the opponents they faced, save arguably the upstart Brooklyn Nets, were all that daunting, but it was still good to see the Jazz get back to their winning ways.

Both the Jazz and I went 3-1 on the week as their only loss came to the Thunder whereas I correctly predicted each outcome save the contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Therefore, I remain one game ahead of Utah at 41-28 compared to their 40-29.

Despite winning three out of four contests last week, the Jazz remain in just seventh place in the West. Fortunately, though, they’re very much within striking distance of moving up the ladder. The streaking San Antonio Spurs, who have won eight consecutive games, are just a half-game ahead of Utah, whereas the fifth-place Thunder are just a game and a half ahead of the Jazz and the fourth-place Portland Trail Blazers are just two games ahead.

The surging Houston Rockets appear as though they might begin to distance themselves and take command of the third seed, but given the easy nature of Utah’s schedule this week and moving forward, they have a great chance of potentially catching the others. The bad aspect of Week 23 is that it will feature the Utah Jazz hitting the road for a tough four-game road swing. On the bright side, though, all the teams they’ll face are sure-fire lottery squads, opening the window for a nice streak.

They’ll take on the Washington Wizards on Monday, the New York Knicks on Wednesday, the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday on the back end of a back-to-back, then wrap up the week on Saturday against the Chicago Bulls. If Utah remains as focused as they appeared in last Saturday’s commanding win over the Nets, they should be in great shape.

Let’s break down each game and project just how they’ll fare in the fourth to last week of the NBA regular season.

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