SALT LAKE CITY, UT - DECEMBER 19: Head coach Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz looks on from the sideline against the Golden State Warriors in the first half of a NBA game at Vivint Smart Home Arena on December 19, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
Utah Jazz: The second-half surge is coming…
As has become the theme for the Utah Jazz under Quin Snyder’s tenure, the Jazz are poised for a dominant second half of the season…and it’s coming soon.
The Utah Jazz just can’t seem to get things together to start the 2018-19 season. Consistency has been a real struggle, as they win one game by double-digits, and then they’ll follow it up with a double-digit loss.
Obviously, the schedule has been a big factor. It’s hard to get into any type of rhythm when you have been on the road the better part of two months in a row now. Of their 37 games played, only 15 of the Jazz’s games have come at home. They’re currently in the midst of a four-game home stand, which is the longest of the season. Before this, they have had one three-game home stand, and then just two two-game stands.
The rest has been road games, with single games sandwiched in between. It’s been brutal.
If you are a Jazz fan, though, should you really be surprised? Ever since Quin Snyder took over as the head coach in 2014, this team has started off seasons slow, and then finished strong. The only year that they were consistently good, was the 2016-17 season, when they went 25-16 over the first 41 games, and then followed that up by going 26-15 over the second half.
Two times already, Snyder has led this team to a second-half record that was 10 games better or more than the first half of the season. He has also never had a losing record over the second half of the season.
Last year is the best blueprint we have to this season. Due in large part to injuries, an inconsistent offense, and one of the hardest first-half schedules, the Jazz got off to a 17-24 start to the year. Once the schedule softened up and the team got healthy, things turned around. A home-heavy second half scheduled allowed for the offense to click, and with the leagues best defense, they went on a tear to close the season.
The turn to this season is coming soon. The Jazz will play the New York Knicks on Saturday, followed by a four-game road trip out east. After that? Things get much softer for the team.
After this upcoming road trip, the Jazz will play only 16 of their final 41 games on the road. That will include only one road trip that is longer than two games. Not only will the Jazz be playing in the friendly confines of Vivint Smart Home Arena, but they will finally be playing some of the lowly teams in the league.
We’ll see the Suns, Bulls, Cavaliers, Hawks, Nets Wizards, and Knicks.
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The longest road-trip will be a four game slate where they face the Wizards, Knicks, Hawks and the Bulls…
The second-half resurgence is coming, and soon. For those Jazz fans who have held on through the first half of the season, your faith is about to be rewarded.
