The Utah Jazz take on the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
The Utah Jazz are looking to get right against the Denver Nuggets this Monday night. The two teams are on opposite sides of the standings, and their fanbases are expecting some widely different things for the season. The undefeated, 3-0, Nuggets are coming off of a season where they won the NBA Championship, while the 1-2 Jazz are hoping to put together a team that can compete for the playoffs.
Through three games, the Nuggets look like the odds-on favorite to win another title, thanks to having the best player in the NBA; Nikola Jokic. The Jazz, on the other hand, look horrid with a roster incapable of playing good defense. They still have star player Lauri Markkanen, who looks even better this season than last.
So it’s not all bad, but the Nuggets are not going to be an easy victory for the Jazz. So here are three reasons you should watch regardless of what happens in the game.
Nikola Jokic’s quest for the MVP
The NBA loves its superstars and no player is currently better than Nikola Jokic. The two-time MVP and NBA Finals MVP is a wrecking ball right now and fans across the league, from the Mile High of Denver to the Salt Lakes of Utah, are eager to not only see him further establish his greatness but also to see if their home-town teams can slow down the Joker-naut.
What does Lauri Markkanen look like against the NBA’s best?
One of the reasons that drives fans to watch Jokic is to see if their star can hang with his output. The Jazz’s Lauri Markkanen is a unique player who may be able to go blow for blow with the man they call Joker. Markkanen isn’t as good as a passer as Jokic, but he may be just as good of a scorer, that is if the Jazz feed him the ball more.
What rotation is Will Hardy going to go with this time?
The Utah Jazz have gone with a different rotation practically every game so far to the start of the season. Keyonte George has seemingly taken minutes away from Ochai Agbaji and now Simone Fontecchio has gone from not playing much if at all in the first two games to being a rotation guy. And none of that is guaranteed to keep going. We’re going to get more and more changes as the season goes on, yet we’re going to be stuck with Talen Horton-Tucker starting. So that’s depressing.