Utah Jazz: Intensity will be key to fifth straight victory
By Caleb Manser
The Utah Jazz will face the Detroit Pistons this evening with a great opportunity to build off of last night’s victory in Boston. Here are the keys to a victory.
In case you missed it last night, the Utah Jazz beat the Boston Celtics to make it three straight wins in the TD Garden itself. The Jazz are on a four game winning streak and have a chance to sweep their road trip tonight in Motor City.
Last time the Jazz played the Detroit Pistons, it was during what would become a 10 game winning streak for Utah. Jordan Clarkson and Rayjon Tucker were still in their first couple weeks as Jazzmen, and Detroit was fighting a multitude of injuries.
Fast forward two months later, and the Pistons roster has gone from bad to worse. Their starting point guard Reggie Jackson was bought out, and signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. Their starting center and former best player Andre Drummond was shipped off at the trade deadline.
Blake Griffin is done for the season with a knee injury, and the steady force of this season, Derrick Rose, is out for tonight’s game with an ankle injury. I wish I could say that was it for the report of the team being dismantled, but sadly it’s not.
Former lottery pick Luke Kennard (who was drafted one spot ahead of Donovan Mitchell) is fighting injuries with both of his knees, and the team lost Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers via the buyout season.
So in other words, if you took a look at their roster last September and identified their eight best players, most of them are either off the team now or on the shelf nursing injuries.
I picked this team to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference before the season started, now I’m not so sure if they can win even three more games this season.
Nevertheless, in the NBA anything can happen. No victory is guaranteed, and that’s especially true as the Jazz will be on the second leg of a back-to-back and inevitably tired at the conclusion of a four game road trip.
Here are three keys to a victory in tonight’s game.