Joel Embiid vs Utah Jazz (Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)
Predicting every December Utah Jazz game, December 9-17
December 9 vs Philadelphia 76ers: Win
The Philadelphia 76ers are very much a team in flux, with divisive star point guard Ben Simmons shelved indefinitely for (put generously) personal reasons. Nonetheless, they’ve retained their most valuable player in Joel Embiid, and have at times looked dangerous this season with the Cameroonian big man surrounded by floor spacing.
Nonetheless, they haven’t looked anything like a team as dangerous as the Utah Jazz. With both teams coming off of back-to-backs in this contest, look for the Jazz to prevail against an equally tired, less talented Sixers team.
December 11 vs Washington Wizards: Loss
It’s not that we believe the Washington Wizards are a better team than the Utah Jazz. In fact, the number of teams we’d rank ahead of the Jazzmen is small, no matter how objective we’re being.
We just have to predict some losses, as an undefeated month is unlikely. This plucky Wizards squad have been the Cinderella story of the 2021-22 NBA season, and they’ve got as good a chance as any Eastern Conference foe to outplay the Jazz.
December 15 vs Los Angeles Clippers: Win
Following their contest with the Wizards, the Jazz enjoy a healthy, four day mini-vacation. We expect them to use it to prepare for a solid, but ultimately beatable Los Angeles Clippers team.
It goes without saying that these Clippers are missing Kawhi Leonard. As incredible a season as Paul George is having, The Klaw likely remains the best player on this roster. The Clippers are still formidable enough, but without Leonard, they’re in a lower tier than the Utah Jazz.
December 17 vs San Antonio Spurs: Win
Throughout much of recent history, predicting a Utah Jazz victory against the San Antonio Spurs was an exercise in futility. Things change, and even the seemingly indomitable Gregg Popovich can’t seem to stop them from doing it.
At 6-13, the Spurs have been about as good as expected in 2021-22: not very. Dejounte Murray is enjoying a breakout season, but this roster is simply too thin for his immense statistical output to result in a high number of quality wins. It feels unlikely that he’ll carry his squad to a victory over the Jazz on the 17th.
upgrade from solid to dominant</a><span style="font-size: 17px">.</span></p>
<p>Luckily, the Jazz’s upcoming December slate is reasonably forgiving. With a number of lottery bound teams and a minimal number of back-to-backs over the season of giving, we’ll be predicting a lot of wins in this article.</p>
<p>All the Jazz need to do now is execute, and make us look good in the process.</p>
<h2><strong>Predicting every Utah Jazz game in December </strong></h2>
<p>December 3 vs Boston Celtics: <strong>Win</strong></p>
<p>The Boston Celtics may be a legendary franchise, but they’ve gotten off to a fairly uninspiring start to 2021-22 so far. They are fresh off a win against the Philadelphia 76ers but they’re also not far removed from dropping a low scoring affair to the middling San Antonio Spurs, and a 123-104 blowout vs the Brooklyn Nets.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz have won their last two contests by 22 points. They seem to be on a roll. They’ve been better in the short and longer term than the Celtics this season, and that trend figures to continue heading into tomorrow night’s matchup.</p>
<p>December 5 vs Cleveland Cavaliers: <strong>Loss</strong></p>
<p>Arguably, predicting a loss for the Utah Jazz in this contest is overly pessimistic. Time will tell. This Jazz squad <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/12/02/predicting-every-utah-jazz-game-december/2/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/11/27/bad-habit-utah-jazz/">has made an unfortunate habit</a> of playing down to their competition, and the 11-10 Cavaliers may be one of the league’s worst teams to make that mistake against.</p>
<p>Bucking every modern notion of NBA basketball, the Cavs frequently deploy a triple towers lineup by starting Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Lauri Markkanen in their frontcourt. The length advantage that the Jazz typically enjoy with Rudy Gobert in the middle may be neutralized in this contest.</p>
<p>If the Jazz focus and execute, they’ll have a great chance to emerge from this contest with a victory. Given their performances against talented-but-lesser opponents over the course of the season so far, we’re hedging our bets against that outcome here.</p>
<p>December 8 vs Minnesota Timberwolves: <strong>Win</strong></p>
<p>Given our previous prediction, one may have expected us to predict a loss in every game the Jazz play against a lesser opponent. We’re not data scientists, but that seems like a pretty bad projection model.</p>
<p>Look for the Jazz to correct course after a tough loss to the Cavaliers and come prepared for this matchup with the upstart young Pups.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/12/02/predicting-every-utah-jazz-game-december/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Dec 9-17 </a>
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the Cameroonian big man</a> surrounded by floor spacing.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, they haven’t looked anything like a team as dangerous as the Utah Jazz. With both teams coming off of back-to-backs in this contest, look for the Jazz to prevail against an equally tired, less talented Sixers team.</p>
<p>December 11 vs Washington Wizards: <strong>Loss</strong></p>
<p>It’s not that we believe the Washington Wizards are a better team than the Utah Jazz. In fact, the number of teams we’d rank ahead of the Jazzmen is small, no matter how objective we’re being.</p>
<p>We just have to predict some losses, as an undefeated month is unlikely. This plucky Wizards squad have been the Cinderella story of the 2021-22 NBA season, and they’ve got as good a chance as any Eastern Conference foe to outplay the Jazz.</p>
<p>December 15 vs Los Angeles Clippers: <strong>Win </strong></p>
<p>Following their contest with the Wizards, the Jazz enjoy a healthy, four day mini-vacation. We expect them to use it to prepare for a solid, but ultimately beatable Los Angeles Clippers team.</p>
<p>It goes without saying that these Clippers are missing Kawhi Leonard. As incredible a season as Paul George is having, The Klaw likely remains the best player on this roster. The Clippers are still formidable enough, but without Leonard, they’re in a lower tier than the Utah Jazz.</p>
<p>December 17 vs San Antonio Spurs: <strong>Win</strong></p>
<p>Throughout much of recent history, predicting a Utah Jazz victory against the San Antonio Spurs <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/12/02/predicting-every-utah-jazz-game-december/2/"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2014/06/16/with-five-nba-titles-in-15-years-the-spurs-are-a-dynasty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was an exercise in futility</a>. Things change, and even the seemingly indomitable Gregg Popovich can’t seem to stop them from doing it.</p>
<p>At 6-13, the Spurs have been about as good as expected in 2021-22: not very. Dejounte Murray is enjoying a breakout season, but this roster is simply too thin for his immense statistical output to result in a high number of quality wins. It feels unlikely that he’ll carry his squad to a victory over the Jazz on the 17th.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/12/02/predicting-every-utah-jazz-game-december/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Dec 18-31 </a>
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offseason addition Rudy Gay</a> in the fold.</p>
<p>December 23 vs Minnesota Timberwolves: <strong>Win</strong></p>
<p>Speaking of stretch bigs who can draw Gobert out of the interior, Karl Anthony-Towns doesn’t even sacrifice size in the process of doing so. We like the Jazz’s chances against his team anyway.</p>
<p>The Timberwolves are an intriguing young squad that looks poised to give their fanbase something they’ve seldom experienced: a trip to the playoffs. That’s all well-and-good, but the Utah Jazz have their eyes set on a much deeper postseason run. This is a simple case of good vs better, and the Jazz fall on the latter side of that equation.</p>
<p>December 26 vs Dallas Mavericks: <strong>Win</strong></p>
<p>The Dallas Mavericks roster an all-world talent in Luka Doncic, a resurging Kristaps Porzingis, and some quality role players. That’s a fair bit, but it hasn’t looked like enough to get on the same level as the Utah Jazz.</p>
<p>The Mavs are actually only a spot behind the Jazz in the Western Conference, sitting fourth with a record of 11-9. However, the gap in their records suggests a sizeable gap between these two teams.</p>
<p>If Porzingis’ three-ball is falling consistently, he could give the Jazz some trouble by spacing the floor. Luckily, Jason Kidd has seemingly preferred to put the 7’3 Latvian on the low block throughout this season. Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz would encourage him to continue doing so.</p>
<p>December 27 vs San Antonio Spurs: <strong>Win </strong></p>
<p>We’re not going to waste many words here. We’ve already established why the Spurs should be an easy out for the Jazz. Yes, this contest comes on the wrong side of a back-to-back. Look for the talent advantage between these teams to nullify that advantage for the Spurs.</p>
<p>December 29 vs Portland Trail Blazers: <strong>Win </strong></p>
<p>If what happened last time the Jazz faced the Blazers is any indication, this should be another win for the boys in Salt Lake City. The Utah Jazz destroyed a healthy Blazers squad 129-107 just days before this article was written.</p>
<p>Granted, the Blazers could be turning a corner by December 29. They’re still adjusting to the offensive principles of rookie Head Coach Chauncey Billups, and it’s hard to say how long that process will take. The Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum backcourt has kept this Blazers squad dangerous for some time, and they have ample time to regain that form this season.</p>
<p>We’d still put our money on them not developing to a point where they’re a serious threat to the Utah Jazz.</p>
<p>December 31 vs Minnesota Timberwolves: <strong>Win</strong></p>
<p>Again, we find little value in explaining our prediction about the same team three times. The Jazz are deeper, more experienced, and all together better than the Timberwolves. They should beat them thrice in December.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="2 ways the Jazz can catch up with the West's best" data-url="https://thejnotes.com/2021/12/01/two-ways-utah-jazz-catch-wests-best/" data-call-to-action="Next"
> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/12/02/predicting-every-utah-jazz-game-december/2/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/12/01/two-ways-utah-jazz-catch-wests-best/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> 2 ways the Jazz can catch up with the West's best </a> </div>
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<p>Out of the 14 games the Jazz play in December, we’re predicting 11 victories. That optimism stems from a weak schedule for a strong team. If they can make good on this prediction, they should look like true contenders by the time we’re ready to ring in 2022.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">