Beating two quality teams back to back may re-shape how we see the Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are in a good place right now. They just knocked off the Miami Heat 117-109, they’re currently 7-3 in their last 10 and they are inching their way back into the playoff discussion with just eight games left in the first half of the NBA season for 2023-2024. They’re winning with limited turnovers, better shooting, and effective defense, led by the new two-headed beast that is Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton.
The squad has seen a giant transformation as of late, and they’re playing far better than they have all season, but that trend has to continue if they’re going to fight back into the conversation for the postseason. Right now they’re about 3.5 games back of the Houston Rockets for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament. A tournament that the Jazz should be easily able to get back into contention for.
And they can, but they have got to get some much-needed wins, starting with the Heat, which they already did, and continuing on into the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks are watching Luka Doncic lead the squad to a current record of 19-14, good enough for 6th in the NBA Western Conference. The squad has cobbled together a good unit and is only a game out of fourth in the Western Conference and 3.5 games out of the second and third spots.
They’re a good team, a team so good that they embarrassed the Jazz the last time they played this season, beating the Jazz by 50 full points in their last encounter. Defeating the Mavericks would go a long way for the Jazz, who not only would take down a top team in the West but avenge their brutal loss to them from earlier in the year.
A win over the Mavericks after beating the Heat would recontextualize the Jazz and raise the expectations for the remaining part of the season. Beating them, a team as good as they are, is huge for a squad that has struggled all season.
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