The Utah Jazz started the season in a great manner. The squad opened up with four routine wins, but its perfect start was stopped by the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. While the Jazz did not look good versus the Bulls, it is still a good start to the season. More or less, all key players for the Jazz are playing well and they look better than they did a season ago.
With the team facing the reigning champions Milwaukee Bucks on Halloween, here are four predictions for the upcoming game.
Jazz vs. Bucks predictions
Mike Conley will be the best player on the Jazz
Mike Conley is having a solid season for the Jazz. The veteran point guard is averaging 12.0 points and 4.0 assists per game, including 78a 39.1% clip from behind the arc. He also holds a lot of the stability for the team and runs the point perfectly for this squad. After a lot of criticism sent the Jazz's way for giving him a three-year, $72.5 million contract, it is great for Conley to have a good season at the age of 34.
The reason why Conley will have a great game is primarily the rest he had. Other big players for the Jazz played 30=plus minutes last night versus the Bulls and will need more rest against the Bucks. Additionally, with Jrue Holiday out, the best guard defender focusing on Donovan Mitchell, and Brook Lopez out, Conley should have a field day offensively. It can be said that Mitchell should also have a field day, but with 35 minutes spent on the court against the Bulls, he will need additional rest in this game.
Quin Snyder will show why he is the best coach in the league
The discussions for best anything in the NBA can last for days. It is true for every metric, including the best player in the history of the game or even the best player right now. It is absolutely the same for coaches, but Snyder is something different. The Jazz coach has been pulling the reins in Utah since 2014 and has only missed the postseason twice, in his first two years.
Snyder's longevity is great, but his player management is also elite and that will be shown again in this game. Coming after a tough loss against the Bulls with key players playing huge minutes, Snyder will show how he can shuffle the rotation and still come out on top, without dragging every last bit of energy from his key players. It helps that he has a deep roster and that Conley rested last night, but it does not minimize the ability of coach Snyder.
Rudy Gobert will continue his truly amazing season
Gobert is mostly known for his defense. The Stifle Tower, as he is known, has been the focal point and the anchor of the elite Jazz defense, which ranked fourth in defensive rating last year. However, this season, Gobert also started the season off with some great scoring efforts. Averaging just eight field-goal attempts this year, Gobert is averaging 17.8 points per game, on 72.5% field goal percentage. Those are truly elite numbers.
However, while that is great, it is his ability to get to the free-throw line with an efficient percentage that is impressive. After averaging around 4.9 free throws per game, he is up to 8.8 free throw attempts per game, with a 70.0% clip at the line. Due to this, Gobert is becoming an offensive threat as well, and those are good signs for the Jazz squad that is trying to contend for a title.
It is still up in the air whether he can continue this great start, but with Lopez out, he should be dominating against the Bucks.
Jazz will secure a blowout win and they really need it
This is an easy prediction due to the circumstances of the game. Holiday and Lopez are out, while Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton played 34 and 33 minutes last night versus the San Antonio Spurs, respectively. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer might even look to rest his pairing for extended minutes, making sure that no injuries are risked. The Jazz should take this opportunity to make a statement win.
This statement win is very relevant for the Jazz. Three out of the four wins they secured this season were against teams that are not exactly doing well. They beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Sacramento Kings, and the Houston Rockets. They also beat the Denver Nuggets but in that game, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic went down with an injury and played only 15 minutes. While the Bucks are also injury-ridden, winning against the reigning champions regardless of circumstance is always a statement win.
The Jazz will be facing the Bucks in the Fiserv Forum tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST.
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