Utah Jazz seriously need to end several recent trends
By Matt Giles
Road games and repeat foes account for most of the Utah Jazz’s recent woes.
Sure, with the Utah Jazz sitting 28-10 overall, including an 18-2 record at home, they are still two games ahead of any other NBA team in the loss column. But following Sunday’s 131-119 defeat at the Golden State Warriors (now 20-20), they have dropped four of their past six outings, including three of the past four.
And they have yet to win on the road in March.
On the other hand, despite the increasingly worrisome recent stretch, it’s important to point out that Utah still hasn’t lost at home since New Year’s Eve.
As for the road woes, though, as the Jazzmen prepare for Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. MT matchup at the Boston Celtics (20-18, 12-5 at home), it’s worth noting their relatively mediocre 12-8 record this season when playing outside the fan-friendly confines of Vivint Arena.
With the clash in Boston serving as the second contest in a five-game road trip, it’s obviously key for Quin Snyder and his guys to quickly discover some serious road mojo. One primary focus, of course, should be to overcome some of their glaring defensive deficiencies as of late.
Another concerning Utah Jazz trend
The Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics have already squared off once this season, a 122-108 win by the Jazz on Feb. 9 in Salt Lake City.
However, as Ben Anderson of KSL Sports outlined, first meetings haven’t posed many issues for the Jazzmen this season in general. No, they are 11-1 thus far in the first meetings against the 12 opponents they have already faced at least twice.
On the flip side, they are just 8-6 in any later battles with these same squads. Plus, keep in mind that those six losses just so happen to represent their past six losses, period.
Naturally, should this persist, such a dropoff in terms of follow-up meetings wouldn’t bode well for hopes come playoff time.
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In other words, it appears, for now, as if teams are fairly adept at figuring out the Utah Jazz the second or third time around.