Three reasons to believe in the Utah Jazz again

Reason to believe in the Utah Jazz #2: The remaining core

Joe Ingles’ recent injury was devastating. He was a key reserve for the Jazz for a number of seasons. His presence will be missed.

With that said, the numbers suggest that the team should be fine without him.

In games where the Jazz have all of their starters available, the team is 23-8. While more depth is always a benefit, the point stands. As long as this team has their starting group, they’re contenders.

CleaningtheGlass reinforces that assertion. Quin Snyder’s typical starting 5 of Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Royce O’Neale and Rudy Gobert rank in the 87th percentile in points differential (+16.1).

Interestingly, it isn’t even their most effective lineup. Substitute Whiteside in for Gobert, and that group’s +24.4 points differential ranks in the 97th percentile (again, per CleaningtheGlass).

None of which is to say that the team is better with Whiteside than Gobert. The differential is likely attributable to Whiteside anchored lineups playing reserves a little more often. Nonetheless, it’s apparent that Snyder’s usual starting guards and wings make up an elite group when flanked by either big man.

It’s also possible that the loss of Ingles will be offset by the addition of Danuel House Jr. While House Jr. isn’t the same caliber of playmaker as Ingles, he makes up that difference in athleticism. Both men are threats to space the floor, so the Jazz may be making a tradeoff that comes out roughly equally in the end.

Either way, one thing remains clear: the Utah Jazz are a dominant basketball team when they’ve got their guys.

Hopefully, that will remain the case as the season wears on.