Utah Jazz Week Twelve Outlook, Predictions

Mar 14, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles (2) and center Rudy Gobert (27) talk after a play in the fourth quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz won 94-85. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Although the Utah Jazz start out their twelfth week of NBA action against the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, they still have a great shot to post a winning record for the week.

Well ladies and gentlemen, it finally happened. It took me 11 tries, but last week I correctly predicted the outcome of each of the Utah Jazz’s games over the course of the seven-day stretch. And it just so happened to come in a heavy five-game week. Admit it, you’re a little impressed.

Anyhow, while the Jazz went 2-3, just as my incredible foresight predicted (if you haven’t picked up on it yet I’m being slightly facetious), my perfect 5-0 record last week has brought me into a deadlock with our very own Utah Jazz as both of our season records now sit at 23-16.

Yet, to be perfectly honest with you, if it were up to me I would have much rather had the Jazz go 5-0 and had my predictions take the 2-3 hit.

Nevertheless, I pinned the Jazz at 2-3 last week because I could see the writing on the wall. The team has been struggling to compete against top-talent teams and barely hanging in with the bottom feeders. It isn’t time to hit the panic button yet by any means as the Jazz still have plenty of time to make adjustments as players work their way back into health, but there’s no denying it’s been a bit of a rough few weeks.

But after dropping three of five on the road last week, the Utah Jazz find themselves back at home for a three-game stint in week 12 of NBA action where they’ll host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday followed by the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday.

Defeating the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers will certainly be a tall task, despite the fact that the Jazz have beat LeBron James five times in a row in Salt Lake City. Even if that game doesn’t end up going Utah’s way though, with three straight home games that include two against middling teams in the East, they have a great chance to earn a winning record for the week.

Hopefully one or more of those wins will be a bit more convincing than the last few we’ve seen which included a miracle comeback in Minnesota and a too close for comfort bout in Brooklyn.

Yet with more rest between games this time around and as the likes of Derrick Favors, George Hill and Alec Burks get readjusted from their recent injury woes, I expect the Jazz to slowly but surely improve and look like a much better team this week compared to last.

Mar 14, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) dribbles the ball past Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (5) in the first quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

1/10 Utah vs. Cleveland

7:00 pm MT – Root Sports/League Pass

Opponent record: 28-8

Season series: Tied 0-0

The Utah Jazz have enjoyed unbelievable success over LeBron James-led teams over the past five years as they’ve won each time that he and his teammates have been in Salt Lake City. Since rejoining the Cleveland Cavaliers, James has yet to win a game on the road against Utah.

Still, you can bet that he’s aware of those struggles and anxious to prove that he’s more than capable of winning at any stadium on the planet. The Cavs will be well-rested for the contest and should be ready to give the Jazz one heck of a fight.

I’ve already covered this upcoming match-up in some detail in my Jazz vs. Cavs Keys to the Game piece, in a weekend post recapping Utah’s recent success against LeBron and even in a recent news piece about former Jazzman Kyle Korver joining forces with the defending champs, so be sure to check all those out for the full story.

To summarize, Utah will need big games out of its star players, particularly Rudy Gobert who will be matched up against a less than daunting offensive weapon in Tristan Thompson, and have to find a way to slow Cleveland, the second best three-point shooting team in the league, from behind the arc.

If they do these things, they could very well steal yet another victory from the Cavs. However, given Utah’s recent struggles, as I detailed in that aforementioned Keys to the Game piece, I’m going to pin Cleveland as eight-point winners in a hard-fought contest.

My Prediction: Cavaliers Win

Final Score: Cleveland 109, Utah 101

Jan 25, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) dunks the ball on Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) in the first quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

1/13 Utah vs. Detroit

8:30 pm MT – ESPN/Root Sports

Opponent record: 18-21

Season series: Tied 0-0

The Detroit Pistons have been an interesting team this year. They grabbed the eighth seed in the East last season and many thought that they were trending upwards and would be able to build off of that success going forward. Unfortunately, they’re just 18-21 on the season so far, good for 10th in the East.

With how nip and tuck their conference is, they’re just 1.5 games out of eighth place, so there’s still plenty of time for them to turn things around. However, there’s no questioning that head coach Stan Van Gundy’s crew has under-performed so far this year.

The Pistons have several solid players but perhaps suffer from a lack of a true go-to guy. They have six players who average double-figures, but are led by Reggie Jackson at 16.8 points per game, a relatively low output for a team’s leading scorer.

Andre Drummond is considered by many to be Detroit’s best player, but he’s more of a defense and rebounding guy and his scoring is down this season relatively significantly.

But while Detroit certainly struggles to score, there’s no denying that they have been an exceptional defensive team this year. They’re fourth in the league in opponent points per game and in the top ten in defensive efficiency.

Thus Utah will be in for a grind when they welcome the Pistons in for their first meeting of the season. Still, with no true star to worry about and pretty comparable match-ups across the board in the two teams’ starting lineups, as long as George Hill can contain Jackson (he can) and Rudy Gobert can contain Drummond (he also can) the Jazz should be in good shape.

So it should come as no surprise, but I’m slotting the Jazz as winners of this one in relatively comfortable fashion. Notching a big win on the national stage as this game will be on ESPN would be a good lift for the Jazz and hopefully help to boost their confidence and credibility across the NBA.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 96, Detroit 84

Nov 11, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) drives to the basket as Orlando Magic center Bismack Biyombo (11) defends during the second half at Amway Center. Utah Jazz defeated the Orlando Magic 87-74. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

1/14 Utah vs. Orlando

7:00 pm MT – Root Sports/League Pass

Opponent record: 16-23

Season series: Jazz lead 1-0

Although the Jazz struggled against the Magic last season, dropping both contests, they got off to a better start this year winning in their first meeting on the road 87-74 thanks to a dominant fourth quarter that saw Orlando score just 10 points.

And if it’s been an interesting season for Detroit, it’s been something else entirely for the Magic. Despite having a slew of talented players and a proven coach in Frank Vogel, the team has an overload of big men and despite notching a few impressive wins, has failed to find any kind of consistent cohesion, as evidenced by their subpar 16-23 record.

In a lot of ways they’re similar to the Pistons in that the team shares the scoring responsibilities well, but overall they don’t have much for impressive offensive players. The major difference, however, is that while Detroit makes up for some of that lack of scoring with defense, Orlando is mediocre at best on the defensive end as well.

Thus, despite the fact that the game does come on the second night of a back-to-back for the Jazz, they’ll have home court advantage and Orlando likewise will be coming in playing the second game in as many nights. But for them, it will be the third game of a five-game road trip and immediately following a bout with the Portland Trail Blazers, so fatigue will likely be more prevalent for the Magic than for the Jazz.

So if Utah is able to beat Detroit, which I firmly believe they will, then topping Orlando should be even more doable. Last time the two teams met, the Jazz were hurt by Evan Fournier, the team’s leading scorer, but were able to dominate the Magic on the boards and put on the clamps defensively to come away with the win.

As long as they can do a better job of containing Fournier, I expect an even better result this time around and that the Jazz will roll to their second comfortable and hopefully confidence-boosting victory in a row.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 95, Orlando 80

More from Purple and Blues

So while Tuesday’s contest against the Cavs will be the most exciting of the three match-ups, it will also be the most difficult. And whether or not Utah is able to win that one, I still expect them to be able to quite easily come away with a winning record in week 12.

And it will be critical that they do so, as well as take advantage of some winnable games next week, because to end January and throughout February, Utah will be up against some tough playoff teams that could put a damper on their current positioning in the Western Conference.

Hopefully a successful week 12 will help them to get healthier and more comfortable with one another as a team, because they’ll surely need it if they’re to once again challenge the league’s best teams and prove that they themselves belong in the upper half of the Western Conference playoff mix.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com