Game thread: Utah Jazz will put win streak on the line against formidable Miami squad

The Utah Jazz will put their five-game win streak on the line as they take on a daunting Miami Heat team on the road in South Beach.

The Utah Jazz are currently riding a five-game win streak, but it hasn’t exactly been a pretty stretch. Sure, the five consecutive wins have been nice and good for Utah’s record in the Western Conference, but nearly all of them have been relatively ugly victories against lackluster opponents, so it’s hard to get over-excited.

But on Monday, we’ll get a chance to see whether or not the Jazz have just been playing down to the level of their competition but have truly found a winning rhythm, or if they simply aren’t much better than the lower tier teams in the NBA. That’s because the Jazz will be facing a team that has proven itself to be surprisingly elite this season in the Miami Heat.

The Heat are off to an incredible 21-8 start, good for third place in the Eastern Conference. They’re also 12-1 at home, with their lone loss coming against an elite Los Angeles Lakers team in a bout that had some questionable calls down the stretch.

Miami has of course benefited from excellent play from star forward Jimmy Butler, who’s known for putting the Jazz in a world of hurt. But what’s been perhaps most eye-opening has been the play of the role players around him, including most impressively that of rookies Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn. The pair of them have surfaced seemingly out of nowhere to be key contributors and scorers for the Heat.

Goran Dragic has also had a solid season and big man Bam Adebayo has thrust himself firmly in the All-Star conversation with amazing play night in and night out.

In short, this is a Miami squad that will be very difficult for the Jazz to outmatch. They are well-coached, deep, dominant on their home floor and one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. They’ve proven capable of topping even the elite squads in the NBA on multiple occasions. So even if the Jazz are at their best, which they haven’t appeared to be lately, they’re going to have their work cut out for them in South Beach.

Game Data

Broadcast Info

Tip-off: 5:30 PM MT on December 23 from American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM & 1280 AM Salt Lake City)

Projected Starting Lineups

Injuries

The Utah Jazz remain without point guard Mike Conley, whose continued absence has most definitely been felt. He’s dealing with a hamstring injury that caused him to miss five games earlier in the season and that he re-aggravated in his first game back.

Meanwhile, the Heat will be without Dion Waiters, who the team has suspended for further conduct detrimental to the team, as well as Justise Winslow who is dealing with back issues.

Prediction

The Jazz have done little to inspire confidence over the past few weeks as they’ve undergone little more than big losses and narrow victories to subpar teams. Call me pessimistic, but I don’t see them standing much of a chance at all against a Miami Heat team that has proven all season long that they’re a force to be reckoned with.

The Action Network is pinning the Heat as 4.5-point favorites, which I think is far too generous. I’m projecting Miami to win 120-105.

Discussion

#UTAatMIA is the Twitter hashtag for the game and our live comment thread below will be up and rolling throughout the game as well. Go Jazz!