In what was anticipated to be Zion Williamson’s NBA debut, the Utah Jazz will take on the New Orleans Pelicans for the second time in a two week span.
Last time the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans met, both teams were on a roll.
The Pelicans were putting their name in contention for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference thanks to the return of former Jazzman Derrick Favors. He along with Lonzo Ball had sparked the Pelicans to win five of their last six games heading into the game a week ago.
The Jazz were winners of five straight at the time, and were in danger of having that win streak snapped by the potent Pelicans on the road. At the end of the day it was the Jazz that came away victorious after Brandon Ingram missed a game-tying layup at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.
When the L2M (last two minute) report was released by the league the next day, they admitted Ingram was fouled by Rudy Gobert on his final layup and the officials missed the call. This came just one day after the New Orleans Saints were eliminated from the NFL Playoffs wild card game from a controversial call.
Given that the Jazz head back to Smoothie King Center with this memory still fresh in local fans’ minds, you can bet the crowd will bring the energy to cheer on the Pelicans to a win.
The Jazz can’t afford to let this become a trap game for them. The long winning streak is bound to end eventually, but as long as the Jazz schedule is this soft Utah has to rack up as many wins as possible.
The race for a top three seed in the Western Conference is super tight between the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, and the Jazz themselves. Whoever gets the second and third seeds will likely avoid facing the Los Angeles Lakers until the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs.
Game Data
Broadcast Info
Tip-off: 6:00 PM on January 16 from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA.
TV: AT&T SportsNet, stream the game on Fubo.tv
Radio: The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM and 1280 AM Salt Lake City)
Projected Starting Lineups
Utah Jazz position New Orleans Pelicans
Rudy Gobert C Derrick Favors
Royce O’Neale PF Brandon Ingram
Donovan Mitchell PG Lonzo Ball
Injuries
The Utah Jazz have still listed Mike Conley as OUT since he re aggravated his left hamstring in December. However, the fact that he traveled with the team on this three game road trip is an encouraging sign that he is close to being ready.
The Pelicans have JJ Redick listed as questionable, also with a left hamstring strain. If he plays that could be a big swing in the Pelicans favor to snap the longest winning streak in the NBA.
Jrue Holiday (left elbow tricep strain) and Kenrich Williams (right lower back soreness) are still listed as out. Zion Williamson (knee) was rumored to be making his official NBA debut in this game, but Pelicans GM David Griffin revealed he will be held out for another week.
Darius Miller is still rehabbing his achilles and won’t be expected to play until April at the earliest.
Prediction
The Utah Jazz have shown no signs of being stopped anytime soon, and given their healthy injury report (outside of Conley), the only team that can stop them right now is their own selves.
The Pelicans will put up a good fight though, having an advantage of one day of extra rest and home court advantage. As we saw back in November with the Minnesota Timberwolves, it is difficult to beat the same NBA team twice in a row. The Pelicans should have extra motivation to get revenge on the Jazz after they “stole” the last game in the final seconds.
Brandon Ingram has had big games every time he’s played the Jazz this season, and Derrick Favors held his own against former teammate Rudy Gobert in the post last week. The Jazz are under a lot of pressure right now to keep this win streak going while the Pelicans seemingly have nothing to lose.
I’m predicting this will be another high scoring game that ends close, a 123 to 120 win for the Utah Jazz.
Discussion
#UTAatNOP will be the Twitter hashtag for the game tomorrow. The comment thread on this page will be available as well. Go Jazz!