Preseason Game Thread IV: Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz

In their preseason home opener at Vivint Arena, the Utah Jazz face Earl Watson’s Phoenix Suns for the second time.

The Utah Jazz are coming off their best game of the preseason so far, a 96-94 victory over Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers. They were able to capture the win despite the fact that several key players were out with injuries. This will be the case once again as the Jazz make their home debut against the Phoenix Suns.

Earl Watson’s squad is laden with young talent. Rookies Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender each showed flashes of what they can do when Utah and Phoenix met in the Valley of the Sun last week. However, it was the Jazz that ultimately prevailed in that game, hanging on for a 104-99 win thanks in large part to Rudy Gobert‘s performance against the Suns’ young duo.

Gobert scored 21 points in the game — the Jazz have made it a priority to look his way throughout the preseason. Look for them to do the same in Wednesday’s rematch; the team will be shorthanded once again and the Stifle Tower is one of the players that needs to step up.

Guard play is also something to watch in the game. George Hill had a strong all-around game in Los Angeles and Dante Exum — who will start at the two — made several key defensive plays against the Clippers and was on point in the first game against the Suns before hyperextending his knee.

They’ll have their work cut out for them against the Suns. Eric Bledsoe is always a threat to score and Brandon Knight had a 17-point night off the bench in the teams’ earlier match-up.

Meanwhile, Joe Johnson is looking to improve on his previous performances for the Jazz. After Wednesday’s shootaround, the seven-time All-Star said he needs to work at his pace and not the opponent’s. “I just have to slow down,” he said. “I’m getting sped up a lot offensively, so I just have to get comfortable.”

Johnson is expected to start in place of the injured Gordon Hayward.

Game Data

Broadcast Info

Tip-off: 7 PM MT from Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, UT
TV: Root Sports, NBA TV
Radio: The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM & 1280 AM Salt Lake City)

Projected Starting Lineups 

Utah Jazz

PG: George Hill
SG: Dante Exum
SF: Joe Johnson
PF: Boris Diaw
C: Rudy Gobert

Phoenix Suns

PG: Eric Bledsoe
SG: Devin Booker
SF: T.J. Warren
PF: Jared Dudley
C: Tyson Chandler

Injuries 

Gordon Hayward (broken finger), Alec Burks (rehab) and Derrick Favors (IT band syndrome) are all out for the Jazz. Rodney Hood is also a precautionary scratch with a hand sprain. P.J. Tucker continues to recover from back surgery for Phoenix.

More from The J-Notes

• With the FIBA World Cup over for Simone Fontecchio, it’s clear he deserves minutes for the Utah Jazz
• Best, Worst and Most likely scenarios for the Utah Jazz this season
• Hoops Hype downplays the significance of the Utah Jazz’s valuable assets
• 3 Utah Jazz players who have the most to gain or lose this season
• Former Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay is a free agent still and it shouldn’t surprise anyone

Prediction

With the injuries and preseason rotations in effect, I’ve been pretty awful at picking games. Having said that, I’m still throwing my money down! The Westgate Superbook Las Vegas has the Jazz as 4½-point favorites against the Suns and I’m taking the boys in blue, green and gold to cover.

Discussion

#PHXatUTA is the Twitter hashtag for the game. I’ll be dropping random observations and ridiculousness on the live tweets @PurpleandBlues1. You can hit us with your thoughts during the game in the comments below as well.