WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 18: Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards handles the ball against the Utah Jazz on March 18, 2019 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
Groovin’ Utah Jazz host Beal, Wizards: Preview, live comment stream
The Utah Jazz will look to extend their win streak when they play host to Bradley Beal and the hard-luck Washington Wizards.
In just over two weeks time, the 2019 NBA Playoffs will tip-off in grand fashion, which bodes well for the Utah Jazz.
Sure, they’ve had a soft schedule recently, but the truth remains that Rudy Gobert and company are groovin’. On Friday, they’ll look to keep playing their funky music against another less-than-imposing foe. Namely, Bradley Beal and a scuffling Washington Wizards squad.
Where the Jazz are concerned, they may as well be the Washington Generals.
The last time the Wiz managed to steal a win from the Jazz band, Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood led the scoring attack, Trey Burke was probably bemoaning his back-up role and Trey Lyles was participating in three-hour practices.
That’s three years, six games and the evolution of a franchise ago. Now, the Jazz officially have the Wizards’ number.
When these teams met earlier this month, the Jazz exposed a puppy-soft Wizards’ defense with crisp passing, outside shooting and total dominance down low. By night’s end, Utah had racked up 116 points with 14 made 3-pointers, dished out 35 assists and were plus-18 in the paint.
As impressive as that was, though, it was on the other side of the ball where the Jazz really shined.
Coming into the contest, Beal had dropped back-to-back 40-point efforts and captured Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. Against the Jazz, though, he faltered right out of the gate thanks to some suffocating defense.
Gobert’s presence down low completely erased Beal’s usually potent penetration game, which kept him from getting comfortable from anywhere on the floor. As a result, he followed up his monster games by scoring just 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting. The Wizards were outscored by 21 when he was on the floor.
Those aren’t the numbers you want from your offensive focal point, but it’s what was dictated by the Jazz D.
This time around, I wouldn’t anticipate such a rough night from the All-Star off-guard. Having said that, the Gobert effect will still be felt and the game will likely follow a similar script.
Washington’s defense is just too undisciplined, their injury-riddled roster too thin and the Jazz are simply playing too well for a letdown within the friendly confines of Vivint Smart Home Arena.
PREDICTION: Utah Jazz beat the Wizards with a score in the neighborhood of 118-91.
Tip-off for the Jazz-Wiz redux is at 7 PM MT. Be sure to join in on the live game discussion in the comment thread that follows. Also — go Jazz!
