Utah Jazz: retaining tough defense is key to upcoming week

The Utah Jazz won all four of their games this week, and deservedly moved up in the power rankings.

Recently the Utah Jazz have taken advantage of a soft schedule, winning nine straight and 14 of their last 15 games.

Several things that were lost from the Jazz’s identity crisis in November have been found as a result of this winning streak. They have found a go-to guy to lead the bench unit off the trade market in Jordan Clarkson, they have found their staunch defense that was lost on the infamous road trip over Thanksgiving, and they have found the joy of a heavy ball movement offense.

Over the past week they won a tight game over the New Orleans Pelicans thanks to a controversial no-call in the final seconds. Rudy Gobert clearly made contact with Brandon Ingram‘s hand on the layup attempt, but as that happened Ingram had his left hand on Gobert’s back, so it’s hard to give much sympathy to Pelicans fans on that one.

Then the Utah Jazz proceeded to beat the Knicks by 24 points, the Hornets by 17 points, and the Wizards by 11 points. The best part of it was that they didn’t really need much help from Donovan Mitchell to complete the perfect week.

Mitchell sat out last night’s game with an illness which slowed him down in Friday night’s victory. Previous to those two contests Mitchell scored a “quiet” 19 points against the Pelicans and 16 points versus the Knicks.

In the two blowout victories Quin Snyder didn’t have to play anybody more than 30 minutes, which was a huge victory for the Jazz to get some extra rest this late into the season. They will definitely need it coming into this week.

ESPN: 7th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 12th, 12th, 13th, 12th, 11th, 9th, 6th

CBS Sports: 6th, 9th, 13th, 7th, 8th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 12th, 12th, 8th, 6th, 3rd

NBA.com: 7th, 7th, 11th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 12th, 13th, 8th, 6th, 3rd

Bleacher Report: 5th, 7th, 7th, 7th, 9th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 12th, 12th, 11th, 6th, 3rd

Sports Illustrated: 6th, 9th, 13th, 8th, 8th, 11th, 11th, 12th, 12th, – , 11th, 9th, 7th

Hoops Habit: 6th, 9th, 12th, 10th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 12th, 12th, 12th, 11th, 11th. 10th

Notable Quotes:

via Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports:

"“Don’t look now, but the Jazz are tied with the Heat, Nuggets and Clippers for the third-most wins in the NBA. The schedule has softened and the Jazz are taking care of business……Utah has put forth a balanced offensive attack. Six players are averaging double figures over the nine-game streak, including five over 14 points per game, and their offensive rating leads the league at 121.9 over that stretch.”"

via Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report:

"nine of Utah’s wins during its 14-1 run have come on the road, which ups the degree of difficulty a bit. And that 128-126 victory over the surging Pelicans last Monday, in which Bojan Bogdanovic simply couldn’t be stopped en route to 35 points, was no ordinary win over a losing team.Still, we can’t confidently move Utah much higher until it proves itself against stouter competition. The schedule gets rough in late January, which means the Jazz will soon get their chance to validate this run."

Keys to a successful week:

The Jazz will have to rely on their excellent defense against their three opponents this week. On Tuesday night they will take on the Brooklyn Nets who will be getting Kyrie Irving back into the lineup. Irving is an offensive dynamo that will make tough shots even against the best defense.

Following that the Jazz will fly down to New Orleans for a rematch in the bayou. The Jazz nearly lost last time they met, and the Pelicans will be out for revenge over the game that was “stolen” from them by the officials.

The Jazz will wrap up the week with a home game against the Sacramento Kings. The Kings have two lights-out shooters in Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic, but have struggled to maintain a grip on the final playoff seed in the West. That seed has been trading hands from six different teams this season, and is currently occupied by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Over the last ten games Sacramento has only won three, and time is running out for their playoff hopes. I wouldn’t be surprised to see their last-minute desperation turn into a solid effort against the Utah Jazz.

Because the Jazz are once again playing every other day there will be little time for practice. With Donovan Mitchell making his way back from sickness the team will simply have to rely on their defense to get them through the week. Fortunately for Utah, their defense has climbed back in the top 10 and should put them in good position to remain undefeated in the new decade.