The homestand continues with the first meeting against the Miami Heat, as the Jazz welcome them to the Delta Center. Last year, the record was split 1-1 between the two groups, both of them winning on the road. After Utah\u2019s collapse on Thursday night, they could probably afford an extra win or two without concern of moving up in the lottery. If you asked a Jazz fan about their thoughts on the team\u2019s play, their answer would generally fall under the answer of \u201c\ud80c\udc00 \ud80c\udc50 \ud80c\udc5b \ud80c\udc7c \ud80c\udd3f\u201d. One night, the Jazz are beating two of the top three teams in the NBA, the next night they\u2019re losing by the largest margin in Salt Lake City history to the Charlotte Hornets \u2014 wow, that actually happened.<\/p>\n
It feels like ever since the Jazz reached the midpoint junction, they finally started to value the art of le r\u00e9servoir; a masterful tanking machine at the expense of every veteran who is decently good at basketball. Just a little tankathon weather forecast for you all\u2026<\/p>\n
The Heat sit firmly at the median 15th mark in the race, meaning they probably need this win more than we do. Which is why it makes sense that the Jazz frontcourt of Lauri and Nurkic have both been listed with mystery illnesses that the Jazz may or may not be taking advantage of. Though the Heat themselves will be missing big man Kel\u2019el Ware and All-Star Tyler Herro, so it pretty much evens out the talent when compared to the Bosnian Beast. They\u2019ve had a consistent struggle to stay above the .500 mark, though this somehow fits into Pat Riley\u2019s master plan in the 2027 offseason<\/a>. They\u2019ve posted a 3-5 record since January 12th and have posted a bottom-five defensive rating (118.4) during that stretch.<\/p>\n So all eyes turn to Bam Adebayo \u2014 who scored 22+ points in five of his last six games, including 25+ points in four of those matchups. He\u2019s crossing a very thin line to his fourth All-Star appearance (oh how I envy that we\u2019re a Western Conference team). If the Jazz are to be without Nurkic, then it\u2019s guaranteed to be a five-star meal from him. The Jazz just aren\u2019t as strong or physical with Filipowski or Hendricks at the five.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve turned on a Heat game this season, you\u2019ve probably noticed all five players spaced out, running down in transition and playing a one-on-one style of basketball. That\u2019s because they\u2019ve limited their pick and roll possessions to 2.4 a game: the lowest in the league by a -1.8 margin from the 29th least. This allows them to play at a very high pace, with the average number of seconds per possession at just 12.6. Their offensive effectiveness will pose a significant threat to the Jazz, who\u2019ll allow just about anyone to score on them \u2014 teams make an average of 45.5 field goals against them, putting them at the bottom of the NBA. Utah\u2019s had short stints where they\u2019ve looked like they could hold their own defensively. Tonight will be a major testament.<\/p>\n Though if Lauri and Nurkic are going to miss this one, the Jazz will need a key contributor on the offense besides Keyonte to toughen through. They\u2019re 1-10 on the season when Lauri Markkanen is absent. That single win was when Keyonte had to score 43 on 28 shots just to beat the Wolves at home by 5. In fact, outside of Keyonte, Sensabaugh has been the only Jazzman to score 26+ points when Markkanen is out.<\/p>\n But hey, maybe Ace Bailey and Cody Williams cool dunks will be enough to fend them off.<\/p>\n QUESTIONABLE – Lauri Markkanen (illness)<\/p>\n DOUBTFUL – Jusuf Nurkic (illness)<\/p>\n OUT – Kevin Love (left knee contusion), Georges Niang (left foot, fourth metatarsal stress reaction), Walker Kessler (left shoulder surgery)<\/p>\n QUESTIONABLE – Norman Powell (low back tightness), Davion Mitchell (left shoulder sprain)<\/p>\n OUT – Tyler Herro (toe and rib contusions), Kel\u2019el Ware (right hamstring strain), Terry Rozier (not with team)<\/p>\n Who: Utah Jazz (15-30) vs. Miami Heat (23-22)<\/p>\n When: January 24th, 7:30PM Mountain Time<\/p>\n Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City<\/p>\n