This Friday, the (31-32) Utah Jazz will travel to Oklahoma City, OK to take on the (28-34) Oklahoma City Thunder. Tipoff will be at 8:00 PM EST inside the Paycom Center. This will be the second meeting between these two teams this regular season, as the Jazz took the first battle, 120-119.
The Jazz is coming into this one after falling to the San Antonio Spurs, 102-94. They struggled on both ends of the court, as they will have to be more efficient in this game if they want to challenge the Thunder on the road.
The OKC Thunder are entering this game after falling to the Los Angeles Lakers, 123-117. They struggled on the defensive end of the court, as they will have to get more stops in this one if they want to pick up a win at home.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Utah Jazz are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference standings, as they are 13 games back from the first-place Denver Nuggets. On offense, they are scoring 117.2 points per game and they have shot 47.2% from the floor. This is the fifth most points scored per contest and the 16th-highest team shooting percentage. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Jazz have the sixth-highest adjusted offensive rating in the NBA. Lauri Markkanen continues to lead the way on the offensive end of the court, as he is scoring 25.3 points per game on 51.2% shooting from the floor. Utah has also shown that it can score from anywhere on the floor. They are shooting 35.9% from deep, which is the 16th-highest three-point shooting percentage. Utah has also been efficient at the charity stripe, as they have knocked down 78.7% of their shots at the line. They can't miss out on these free points and still expect to win these games.
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On the defensive end of the court, the Jazz is surrendering 116.8 points per game and their opponents have shot 47.5% from the floor. This is the 21st least amount of points given up per contest and the 18th-highest shooting percentage allowed. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Jazz have the 25th-lowest adjusted defensive rating in the NBA. They have struggled to consistently defend shots near the rim, but their perimeter defense has been better at times. They are forcing their opponents to shoot 35.7% from behind the arc, which is the 14th-lowest three-point shooting percentage allowed. The Utah Jazz has also snatched 45.2 rebounds per game, which is the sixth most in the NBA.
Injury Report: Ochai Agbaji SG (Leg) and Jordan Clarkson PG (Thumb) are questionable. Collin Sexton PG (Hamstring) and Micah Potter C (Elbow) are out.
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