Utah Jazz: The most grueling stretch of their 2021-22 NBA schedule

The Utah Jazz, per Positive Residual, were blessed by the Basketball Gods with the easiest schedule in the NBA this upcoming season. However, in the National Basketball Association, “easiest” is a very relative term. Nothing is easy.

The Jazzmen will still have to handle the Association’s most talented outfits if they hope to repeat the feat of finishing the regular season with the NBA’s best record. By all means, Head Coach Quin Snyder’s troops are well-positioned to win that battle, with the Utah Jazz’s front office having spent this offseason making smart, marginal upgrades to last year’s league-best 52-20 squad.

Still, nothing is guaranteed in the NBA, and plenty of rival teams probably have dates with the Jazz circled on their calendars. While taking a quick glance at the team’s season-long schedule, one stretch of games in particular stands out as especially challenging.

The most difficult stretch of the Utah Jazz’s upcoming season

From January 23 up to February 4, the Jazz’s opponents, in order, are the Golden State Warriors, the Phoenix Suns, the Phoenix Suns (again), the Memphis Grizzlies, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Denver Nuggets and the Brooklyn Nets.

Each of these teams pose unique challenges. The Warriors (even if they haven’t flipped James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody for an All-Star calibre player yet) enter the 2021-22 NBA season with championship aspirations. If luck has smiled upon the sunny San Francisco franchise by January 23, Klay Thompson will be back to his elite off-ball three-point mastery, and challenging Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell on the other end.

The Phoenix Suns, who the Jazz face on January 24 and 26, will be eager to prove that last season’s NBA Finals appearance had little to do with luck. The Grizzlies will be out for blood in their own FedEx Forum on January 28, a place locals accurately refer to as “the Grind House”. The Timberwolves may represent a break for the Utah Jazz, but with an impressive collection of young offensive talent and a desperation to enter the NBA’s postseason fray, they should not be taken lightly either.

The Denver Nuggets will likely be without Jamal Murray, but they still boast the league’s reigning MVP, alongside Michael Porter Jr. and a deep collection of talent. The Brooklyn Nets…are pretty good also.

Yes, the Utah Jazz potentially have the easiest schedule in the NBA next season, and yes, that bodes well for the best regular season team in the entire league last season. Nonetheless, the Jazz will be challenged, and at no point more-so than from January 23 to February 4.