The Jazz came into the nation\u2019s capital with their heart on their sleeve, and were only left with shattered dreams. They had lost the first of a 2-game regular season series against the Wizards with a heart-crushing loss, despite Trae Young making an appearance through two and a half quarters. All they can do now is hold their heads low and trudge through the city of Milwaukee, who are technically a basketball team as long as one of the Antetokounmpos are on the court \u2014 it doesn\u2019t matter which one at this point of the season.<\/p>\n
The foundation of the 2021 championship squad is still there, but a combination of age, regression and Doc Rivers has reeled them back all the way to the 10th spot on Tankathon. The franchise moved on from Damian Lillard\u2019s remaining functioning leg and Brook Lopez to prioritise younger, more versatile players. Their last blowout loss against Atlanta was pretty much the final dagger at what hope fans had left in the season. They can now cruise through their tanking schedule, despite New Orleans owning the rights to swap picks.<\/p>\n
Giannis has very clearly stated, \u201cunder no circumstances will I depart from the Milwaukee Bucks, unless I have the chance to leave, which I would obviously never do\u201d. The Bucks have alleviated his concerns by holding a 26-35 record while dangling outside a play-in spot. He\u2019s available tonight \u2014 only his third game back from a right calf strain \u2014 which could counterintuitively have the Jazz do the funniest thing ever and drop them off on their home floor.<\/p>\n
This team serves as a cautionary tale for reigning NBA champions, warning them to beware of how to dismantle a dynasty. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I own a small amount of land ownership on Ryan Rollins and AJ Green Islands. Ousmane Dieng and Pete Nance are starting to sway me. But this team is climbing a near-impossible hill in March. The Jazz are hoping to launch a Kickstarter for their campaign, starting tonight.<\/p>\n
Utah\u2019s now 5.5 games in front of the bottom spot after Thursday\u2019s win, but a loss tonight (and maybe a cheeky Nets win over the Pistons) could make up some ground. The Jazz fire back by making Keyonte available to play despite breaking a 44-game losing streak stalemate across the bottom ten teams, but they lose Isaiah Collier due to \u2018personal reasons\u2019.<\/p>\n
Utah\u2019s bench has been the seventh-highest scoring unit in the league through the last 7 games. I unfortunately cannot explain the science behind Will Hardy\u2019s sorcery and why Blake Hinson, Elijah Harkless, and 10-day contract Mo Bamba just kind of work.<\/p>\n
In the game against Washington, four Jazzmen had at least two steals, led by John Konchar, who corralled five. Bamba did the heavy work, posting a total of 20 steals in his two games on the floor during the Jazz road trip. I was the lone spectator to Hinson launching a three from a range that normally isn\u2019t permitted from a two-way contract guy. Yes, I know stats against the Wizards are pretty much up there in la-la land, but it\u2019s becoming scarily credible how the Jazz can pretty much transform any role player into their most capable self.<\/p>\n
But this game feels more like a watch before you judge. These teams are at polar ends of the spectrum regarding their current status and future, both of them fighting for completely different things. It can all start with a firm handshake and an agreement on what needs to happen to benefit both franchises.<\/p>\n
OUT – Isaiah Collier (personal reasons), Lauri Markkanen (right hip impingement), Jusuf Nurkic (nose surgery), Jaren Jackson Jr. (left knee surgery), Vince Williams Jr. (torn left ACL), Walker Kessler (left shoulder surgery)<\/p>\n
OUT – Kevin Porter Jr. (right knee swelling), Taurean Prince (neck surgery)<\/p>\n
Who: Utah Jazz (19-44)) at Milwaukee Bucks (26-35)<\/p>\n
When: March 7th, 6:00PM Mountain Time<\/p>\n
Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee<\/p>\n
Channel: Peacock, Jazz+, KJZZ<\/p>\n
Radio: 97.5\/1280 The Zone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jazz came into the nation\u2019s capital with their heart on their sleeve, and were only left with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3785],"tags":[7,423,52756,6,422,427,8572,3972],"class_list":["post-645431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-utah-jazz","tag-basketball","tag-jazz","tag-jazz-game-preview","tag-nba","tag-utah","tag-utah-jazz","tag-utah-jazz-game-coverage","tag-utahjazz"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116188364417216802","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}