Utah Jazz: Three takeaways from the undefeated week
By Caleb Manser
Here are three takeaways from the Utah Jazz beating all three of their foes this past week.
The Utah Jazz are currently at 18-11 as they take on the Miami Heat tonight. Thanks to a soft stretch of schedule where they faced the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, and Charlotte Hornets with no back-to-backs, the Jazz were able to rack up three wins despite limited availability of point guard Mike Conley.
These three wins were absolutely crucial as the Jazz are behind in the Western Conference standings, currently sixth place. That looks fine to me when you consider most Quin Snyder teams come out of the gates slower than other teams.
But considering the expectations that were put upon the Jazz this summer, their basketball hasn’t been reassuring to the eye test. They are still yet to play four strong quarters in a win against a playoff level team. Their offense which should be better than last season has been bottom-10 all season long. Their defense, which was once top-tier earlier this season has fallen off to about the 10th best defense in the league.
Their net rating is only 12th best in the league at 1.4, nearly three points lower than the 11th place Indiana Pacers. As of today they are projected to win 48 games according to the RAPTOR system of FiveThirtyEight.
This was supposed to be a team top 10 in both offense and defense. This team was also supposed to improve on the 50 wins they accomplished last year. I’m happy the Jazz are winning games, but I’m not so sure that they will last against any of their Western Conference rivals in a seven game series if the playoffs started tomorrow.
The Dallas Mavericks are finding ways to win even without superstar Luka Doncic. The Denver Nuggets are quietly evolving into the winning team they were supposed to be. The Houston Rockets are fueled by the explosive James Harden and he single-handedly keeps them competitive in any game they play in. The two teams from Los Angeles are rolling as expected, both playing a top 10 offense and defense.
While my colleague Jared Woodcox also isn’t very encouraged from the past week and five game winning streak, here are my three takeaways from Utah’s past three wins.