Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans: Keys to the Game

The Utah Jazz will be back at home tonight and will look to bounce back from their recent disappointing stretch as they host the New Orleans Pelicans.

If there was ever a time for the Utah Jazz to really turn up their level of play, now would be that time. With just nine games left in the regular season and as Utah holds just a one-game lead over the LA Clippers for fourth place in the West, the Jazz desperately need to close out the season strong.

They’ve lost four of their last five, have played with such a lack of energy in recent contests that Rudy Gobert called out his teammates and just so happen to have the hardest remaining schedule of any team in the league. Not exactly a pleasant combination of news leading up to the postseason.

However, given that Utah’s next two games will likely be the easiest contests they’ll face for the rest of the season, they have a crucial opportunity to right the ship, rebuild some confidence and prepare themselves for what will be a thrilling stretch run of the season leading up to postseason action.

And that reversal of their recent fate has to start tonight as the Jazz will be back at home to take on the New Orleans Pelicans.

As I mentioned in last night’s weekly preview piece, the Pelicans have been an interesting team of late given that since the blockbuster trade that saw them acquire DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings, they’ve gone just 5-8 in games where Cousins has played and 3-0 without him, including last night’s impressive blowout win over the playoff hopeful Denver Nuggets.

Cousins missed last night’s game with a sprained ankle and with Derrick Favors already listed as out for the contest while Gordon Hayward is questionable due to the injury he suffered against the Clippers, tonight’s contest could very well be missing some crucial stars.

Nevertheless, Utah has been able to handily defeat New Orleans both before and after they acquired the services of DeMarcus Cousins, so their hopes have to be high that they can do so again tonight.

Yet, the Pelicans have been playing very well of late while Utah certainly has been slumping, so if the Jazz hope to come out on top, they’ll need to get back to the solid play they’ve displayed for most of the season that has propelled them up to fourth in the West and put extra emphasis on each of the following key areas.