The Utah Jazz have lost three straight following the All-Star break, and things won’t get any easier with Gordon Hayward and the Celtics in town tonight.
After taking a four-game winning streak into an All-Star break that featured Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell playing on the big stage, the Utah Jazz have quickly dropped three in a row. Things are as tense as ever with the teams recent struggles.
This team has been up-and-down all season long, with plenty of highs and quite a bit of lows. This may be the teams lowest point of the season, but getting a win against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference sure would make for a feel-good night.
It’s not going to be an easy task, though. The Jazz, who typically hang their hats on the defensive end of the court, have to figure out a way to stop a Boston Celtics team that ranks in the top-five in offensive rating.
Based on what we have seen lately, this game could be ugly. The Jazz, however, have a tremendously talented roster that could turn it around at any moment.
One thing’s for sure, if the Jazz want to win this game and clean up their act for the 24 games that remain afterwards, they need to get back to playing some defense.
No more getting blown by, no more putting your heads down after a breakdown and no more pointing the finger. We need to see some pride from this group, and I think they have what it takes to come back to life.
If the Jazz hope to get back into the top four in the Western Conference and have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, they’ll have to make up for this skid and steal some wins along the way. This would be quite the theft.
With Boston being in town, that obviously means that former Jazzman Gordon Hayward is back at his old stomping grounds. The reception, sadly, won’t be pleasant, but he’s playing much better ball now that he’s fully over his dislocation/fracture injury.
The Jazz swept the season series against Hayward and the Celtics last season. Let’s hope they can get off to a 1-0 start after tonight.
Game Data
Broadcast Info
Tip-off: 8:30 PM on February 26th from Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: AT&T SportsNet, ESPN
Radio: The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM and 1280 AM Salt Lake City)
Projected Starting Lineups
Utah Jazz Position Boston Celtics
Rudy Gobert C Daniel Theis
Bojan Bogdanovic PF Jayson Tatum
Joe Ingles SF Gordon Hayward
Donovan Mitchell SG Jaylen Brown
Injuries
Kemba Walker is unlikely to play tonight as he continues to rest his knee. He’s been dealing with soreness and swelling since the All-Star break, and the Celtics are going to be patient with their star guard.
Robert Williams has missed 36 consecutive games with a hip injury, and will likely remain on the sidelines for tonight’s game. He’ll have a scan on his hip done at the end of the week, but his return is close.
Prediction
I may have been spouting some optimism earlier, but I do think that the Jazz are going to have a hard time with the Celtics tonight. They’re just so hard to guard and have so many weapons, and with the Jazz’s defense in the shape it’s in, we’re looking at another high-scoring game, even with Boston being on a back-to-back.
Utah’s schedule does lighten up for a bit after this game, so that will be the perfect opportunity for the Jazz to get back on track. I’ll go with a final score prediction of 114-105.
Discussion
#BOSatUTA is the hashtag on Twitter, and as always the comment thread will be available for some live game chatter. Go Jazz!