Utah Jazz face first real challenge of the season tomorrow
The Utah Jazz are off to a fantastic start to the 2021-22 NBA season, with consecutive victories over the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Sacramento Kings. The former matchup didn’t exactly test the Jazzman, as they orchestrated a 107-86 blowout over the tanking Thunder. The bout with the Kings proved a little more difficult, but but the Jazzmen still walked away with a comfortable 110-101 victory.
In the NBA, you take the victories you get, but nobody could deny that neither the Thunder or the Kings projected as teams that were likely to compete with the Utah Jazz heading into the 2021-22 season. The Denver Nuggets, on the other hand, are a different beast.
The Jazz go to battle with the Nuggets and their reigning MVP Nikola Jokic tomorrow night.
Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets: By the numbers
Surprisingly, neither of these Western Conference clubs have managed to get their offenses flowing in this young NBA season. Both squads have gotten out to 2-0 starts on the backs of their defenses.
The Utah Jazz currently sit 19th in the NBA in points per game at 108.5. Meanwhile, the Nuggets have had even more trouble generating baskets. Their 106 points per game rank 22nd in the league. The Jazzmen boast the best defense in the NBA so far, allowing a stingy 93.5 points per contest. The Nuggets have also been impressive defensively, allowing 97.0 points per game (6th in the NBA).
For those of you with an aversion to crunching numbers, that means the Jazz’s average differential of 15 points is better than the Nuggets’ of 9. With that said, early season statistics are frequently not indicative of what’s to come.
Both of these teams were in the NBA’s upper crust in terms of points per game in the 2020-21 season. The Jazz finished fourth in the league with 116.4 points per game, and the Nuggets finished 8th with 115.1. However, it is worth noting that the Nuggets are unfortunately without Jamal Murray, their second leading scorer in 2020-21. It stands to reason that their offense will suffer without the ultra-talented scoring guard. The Utah Jazz, on the other hand, retained their top 7 leading scorers from last season heading into 2021-22.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets’ offense lives-and-dies with superstar Nikola Jokic. He’s mostly looked like his MVP self this season with averages of 29.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per night. His assists per night have dropped significantly, to from 8.3 per night last season down to 4.5. This is possibly explained by the absence of Murray, one of Jokic’s favorite targets.
Defensively, neither team is far off their 2020-21 mark so far. The Jazz finished 2020-21 allowing 107.2 points per game, third in the league. The Nuggets were eighth in the Association, allowing 110.1 points per contest.
Those trends figure to hold. Jamal Murray, for all of his talent, does not have a sterling reputation as a defensive player. The Nuggets are much more likely to miss him in their endeavor to produce points, not prevent them.
Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets: One X-factor
If the Denver Nuggets do finally enjoy their first offensive explosion of the season vs the Utah Jazz, it’ll likely coincide with Michael Porter Jr.’s first. He’s struggled out of the gates of the 2021-22 season, averaging just 11.0 points per contest.
Undeniably, Porter Jr. figures to rack up a lot more points than 11 in a game soon. However, doing so against the NBA’s premier defensive team in the Utah Jazz may prove to be a tall order.
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Ultimately, this projects as another extremely winnable game for the Utah Jazz. They’ve had a better offense and a better defense than the Denver Nuggets throughout the first two games of the 2021-22 season. Nonetheless, this is the most talented team the Jazz have played yet this season, and they should game plan accordingly.