Intensity is the Key on Utah’s Upcoming 5-Game Trip

The Jazz have a slew of tough opponents slated for the rest of their five-game road trip. It did start with a bang in a thrilling slugfest between two Western Conference heavyweights. Okay, not really. It was a terrible grindfest as Jazz-Grizzlies matchups typically are.

But the Jazz won, which is all that really counts. And they were able to build their win streak to three. There were also some really encouraging signs, especially on the effort and intensity barometers, both of which have been sorely lacking in most games this season. Ricky Rubio had a few sneaky steals, Donovan Mitchell dove for a loose ball and Jae Crowder played with heart and passion just like always.

They will need to keep up the same level of intensity if they want to steal a couple more of these road games. Ideally, with this tough a lineup, the goal would be to end 3-2, which means the Jazz only need to go .500 for the rest.

• Dallas Mavericks: Wednesday, November 14 (5-8)
• Philadelphia 76ers: Friday, November 16 (9-6)
• Boston Celtics: Saturday, November 17 (7-6)
• Indiana Pacers: Monday, November 19 (8-6)

Dallas won’t be easy pickings, but this may be the easiest of the bunch and is probably a must-win if the Jazz are planning to come home with a winning road trip. If they can get that one, then they only need to find one other W from their visits to the three opponents in the upper echelon of the Leastern Conference.

Dallas look-ahead

Not really any surprises here. The Jazz and Mavs have already met twice this season, with a win both home and away. The scarier part of this is that it’s tough to beat a team three times in a row, regardless of the opponent (See: Jazz beat Memphis and stop the 3-0 series lead for Grizz). Especially when those games scheduled so close together.

Now, Luka Doncic isn’t quite MVP material, and he’s still a young rookie, but he’s a really good young rookie. So good, in fact, that if he were playing last season in the heated Ben Simmons-Jayson Tatum-Mitchell rookie race, it may have become a Simmons-Doncic rookie race. He’s already carrying the team, and doing it impressively. Here’s an example, from popular Jazz fan and NBA stats pundit Andy Bailey.

Luka Doncic scored more PTS in his first 10 games than Hakeem Olajuwon or Larry Bird did in their first 10.

Luka had more REB in his first 10 games than Kevin Love did in his.

Luka dished more AST in his first 10 games than Steve Nash or Deron Williams did in their first 10.

— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) November 7, 2018

This game will probably be more heated than the previous two, but I still expect the Jazz to come out ahead, and in a more impressive fashion than before.

Philadelphia look-ahead

An impressive win in Dallas will be the perfect way to pick up even more steam ahead of the Philadelphia game. Friday’s game will be Jimmy Butler’s home debut in front of Sixers fans (after he debuts as a Sixer on the road on Wednesday). It could go either way for Philadelphia. They could find themselves working through the team dynamic changes and their first outing to boot.

But it could also be a huge excitement and energy boost for the team and crowd, with Butler playing motivated to show up for his new team, coach, and fans. If it’s the latter, it will be a really tough game. It should be either way. Joel Embiid may also be eager to show it’s still his team, despite Butler walking in feeling like he’s the alpha dog.

On top of all that noise, there’s also the Simmons-Mitchell rivalry briefly mentioned above. And on top of that is the center battle between Rudy Gobert and Embiid. Embiid also has a history of not playing when they play the Jazz — he’s only faced Utah in two of the four games during his active seasons thus far — even if it’s just coincidental. Joel is more skilled, and as strange as it sounds it’s really close in terms of who has a better impact for their team on the court, both offensively and defensively.

Boston look-ahead

The Jazz beat the Celtics at home just a few short days ago. And Hayward was taken advantage of by the Jazz repeatedly. It was glorious. Since then, Hayward has begun to get thrown under the bus by Celtics fans as the scapegoat for the Celtics’ poor Western road trip and overall tepid start.

Being the team that was supposed to reign supreme after LeBron James’ exit from the East, the Celtics are at 7-6, and rank 26th offensively. Their defense is really good, but it didn’t stop the Gobert wrecking ball from reaching the paint at will. Or Joe Ingles, for that matter. With that slow start, lofty expectations, and a fan base that demands perfection and banners, it’s easy to see why they would pick on Hayward, who has said he’s still finding his rhythm after a season-long injury.

Bringing back two All-Stars in Hayward and Kyrie Irving1, of course the Celtics were supposed to get better. But how do you share the ball and shots around with so many gifted players? Who can get in a rhythm? How do you develop Jayson Tatum and also let Hayward recover from his injury? These are all really tough questions that Boston coach Brad Stevens needs to figure out. I expect that it will get figured out and Boston will still end up as a top three team in the conference. But for now, the Jazz should be glad to get both of their Boston games out of the way so early in the season.

Indiana look-ahead

This one isn’t necessarily as interesting to dive into just yet. The Pacers are a fun team, true, but they haven’t really wowed. They just haven’t yet looked as good as they did last season, but then again, neither have the Jazz. And maybe the schedule is partially to blame, for both teams.

To this point, the Pacers have basically beat the teams they were supposed to beat, including a home win against Boston. They did steal one on the road against the Spurs, but otherwise have had a relatively tough schedule and done all right. Their offense has been about average while their defense has been top ten. Neither of these things are all that surprising. Their losses come at the hands of Milwaukee, Minnesota, Portland, Houston (twice) and Philadelphia.

The Jazz will be on the fifth game of a five game trip, the third game in four nights, AND the fifth in eight nights. If there’s one the Jazz are most likely to drop, it may be this one.

Again, the Dallas game could be the key. Pick up that one and all the Jazz will need to come home 3-2 is a single win against the trio of solid Eastern Conference teams. If they play with the effort and intensity that they’ve brought during their current 3-game winning streak, that’s not an unreasonable ask for a club that’s currently 5-2 on the road.