Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) brings the ball up courtroom because the Utah Jazz and the Portland Path Blazers play an NBA basketball recreation at Vivint Enviornment in Salt Lake Metropolis on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information
It’s been a blended bag for the Utah Jazz over their final six video games.
The Jazz began the stretch with a giant street win towards one of the best crew within the league, the Phoenix Suns. Utah simply bought by one of many worst groups within the NBA, the Houston Rockets, in extra time, and misplaced its focus in a win towards Oklahoma Metropolis that ought to have been bigger than it was.
The Jazz had been blown out by New Orleans and misplaced to Dallas earlier than bouncing again with a resounding 123-85 win over Portland on Wednesday.
Right here’s the place nationwide publications slot the Jazz in energy rankings this week:
ESPN — No. 7
Crew forward of the Jazz: Golden State Warriors.
Crew under the Jazz: Boston Celtics.
What they mentioned in regards to the Jazz:
Bojan Bogdanovic broke the franchise file by draining 11 3-pointers throughout his 35-point efficiency in Sunday’s win over the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder. He had been in a little bit of a funk earlier than that, capturing simply 32% from 3-point vary within the earlier 11 video games. It was solely the second time that somebody apart from Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz in scoring within the 11 video games since Mitchell returned from a concussion. — Tim MacMahon
NBA.com — No. 8
Crew forward of the Jazz: Dallas Mavericks.
Crew under the Jazz: Milwaukee Bucks.
What they mentioned in regards to the Jazz:
The Jazz are 10-2 (solely the Celtics have been higher) since Feb. 1 and have post-break wins over the Mavs and Suns. However they’re not precisely in destroy-everything-in-their-path mode. They barely escaped Houston with a win on Wednesday and so they had been clobbered in New Orleans on Friday. That New Orleans loss got here with Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic combining to shoot 1-for-10 from 3-point vary, two nights after Conley made two straight 3-pointers in extra time towards the Rockets and two nights earlier than Bogdanovic set a franchise file with 11 3s in Oklahoma Metropolis. It stays a make-or-miss league. In fact, the Jazz might higher insure towards misses with improved protection. Even over this 10-2 stretch, the Jazz rank simply eighth defensively, and that’s with seven of the 12 video games having come towards groups that rank within the backside 10 on offense. Solely the Lakers (+3.9) and Knicks (+2.8) have seen greater jumps in factors allowed per 100 possessions than the Jazz, who’ve allowed 2.3 greater than they did final season. Rudy Gobert lacking 14 video games has one thing to do with that, however the Jazz have seen a fair greater bounce (from 100.9 to 104.9) in Gobert’s minutes on the ground, and the league common has dropped by 1.3 per 100. The Jazz are nonetheless taking part in effectively sufficient to maneuver up a spot or two within the Western Convention standings. However their go to to Dallas on Monday is about defending fourth place and (with the Mavs rested and the Jazz having performed in Oklahoma Metropolis on Sunday) lastly getting a win in a rest-disadvantage recreation. They’re 0-6 (the 0-10 Rockets are the one different winless crew) in rest-disadvantage video games to this point, and so they’ll have one other (towards the Kings) later within the week. — John Schuhmann
CBS Sports activities — No. 10
Crew forward of the Jazz: Minnesota Timberwolves.
Crew under the Jazz: Golden State Warriors.
What they mentioned in regards to the Jazz:
The Jazz had been handed a 34-point thrashing by the Pelicans of their first recreation of the week, later shedding to the Mavs whereas beating the lowly Thunder and Blazers. Donovan Mitchell struggled from the sphere, however Bojan Bogdanovic is on a significant heater, capturing 54 % from the 3-point line this week whereas sinking a franchise-record 11 3-pointers within the win over OKC. — Colin Ward-Henninger
NBC Sports activities — No. 9
Crew forward of the Jazz: Milwaukee Bucks.
Crew under the Jazz: Golden State Warriors.
What they mentioned in regards to the Jazz:
Are the Jazz title contenders? It’s a little bit unusual to say this, however provided that their protection is as much as the duty — and it hasn’t been of late. For the reason that All-Star break, the Jazz are twenty sixth within the league in defensive ranking. A part of that was Monday evening, when Luka Doncic carved them up with the pick-and-roll, exposing the shortage of high quality perimeter defenders on the Jazz roster. Rudy Gobert remains to be within the combine for Defensive Participant of the 12 months — a wide-open season for that class, BTW — however one man can solely cowl up so many holes. Utah has 5-of-6 at house and a comparatively smooth a part of the schedule arising, this can be a probability to get the protection again on monitor, lock in some wins, grabbing ahold of the at No. 4 seed and residential courtroom within the first spherical. — Kurt Helin
Sports activities Illustrated — No. 4
Crew forward of the Jazz: Milwaukee Bucks.
Crew under the Jazz: Memphis Grizzlies.
What they mentioned in regards to the Jazz:
The Jazz stay locked in and discover themselves knocking on the Warriors’ door after a 2–1 week. Utah is 2.5 video games again of the Warriors within the Western Convention standings and subsequent faces the crew at its tail, the surging Mavericks, on Monday. Dallas has discovered nice chemistry as of late and needs to be a aggressive matchup towards Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. — Elizabeth Swinton