Utah Jazz take on the Orlando Magic in the Salt Lake City – NBA Preview
The Utah Jazz will face the Orlando Magic at home on Saturday night. The Jazz have 3 games left in the season and are at 9th place in the Western Conference with the same record as the 8th placed Phoenix Suns.
The Suns however hold the tie breaker over Utah. In order to qualify for the playoffs and clinch the 8th seed in the West, Utah desperately needs to win this game.
Orlando has been dealing with its own problems as of late. They are currently seeded 6th in the NBA and not in any real threat of moving down. However, since the whole drama erupted with Dwight Howard and team coach
Stan Van Gundy, followed by news of Howard being out for the season with a back injury, Orlando seem to be distracted and have not been playing great. The Magic are 4-6 in their last 10 games going into this one, and need to enter the playoffs in some sort
of winning form, especially now that it is certain that Howard will miss the playoffs.
The Jazz have won their last two games entering this one. They are 10-2 at home since the All Star break and very fortunate to be playing their last three games of the season there. They have a good home record so they will enter
the game with confidence.
"We feel great. We're in the mix. We're just going to continue to take care of our business. We can't afford to watch and see what anybody else is doing. We've got to make sure we win our games and whatever happens from there on
happens" said Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin.
The last time these two teams played was December 10th, 2010 in the Salt Lake City and the Jazz were able to defeat Orlando 117-105. But that was over a year ago and both teams have changed since then.
For Utah, Devin Harris will hold the key to their back court. Harris has been hot recently, averaging 23.3 points in his last three games, a major improvement from his season average of 11.3 points per game.
Gordon Hayward has also averaged 21.3 points per game in his last three appearances. These two players have scored a combined 97 points including 18 three pointers in the last two games for Utah, both of which the Jazz have won.
Al Jefferson has also been providing the support at centre position, scoring 19.6 points and grabbing 14.6 rebounds on average in his last three games.
For Orlando, Jameer Nelson holds the key to their on-court play making and scoring. The guard is averaging 19.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in his last three appearances. In the absence of Dwight Howard, Glen Davis is filling the
spot for Orlando. Howard’s shoes are too big for anyone to fill, but Davis is working hard and has improved his numbers since Howard’s injury. He scored 27 points in the April 18 loss to the Boston Celtics.
“What we're saying right now is that this is our team in the regular season and in the playoffs. This is the team that we have and we have to do the things that allow this team to play well. It's made us have to make some changes
and made us strong but our group has been focused on making the adjustments we have to make to be good together" said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy regarding the injury depleted team.
Both teams are desperate for a win with Utah holding the advantage playing at home. In the end, whichever team wants it more will come away with the win. Who that will be, we will have to wait and watch.
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