“We’re Figuring It Out” | Utah Returns Home To Face Surging Memphis | Utah Jazz

After playing seven of their previous eight games on the road, the Utah Jazz return to the comfortable confines of Vivint Arena for the first of three consecutive home games. 

It couldn’t come at a better time. 

Amidst a brutal battle for playoff positioning, the Jazz no longer control their own destiny in hosting a first-round series after losses to Golden State and Dallas, two teams ahead of them in the standings. Even if Utah doesn’t open the postseason in the mountains, the season is far from over as they’re more concerned about playing their best basketball at the right time of the year. 

“The playoffs start a whole other season,” Jordan Clarkson said on Monday. “I’ve seen other teams make that comment, but we really believe in that.”

But before Utah can think about the postseason, the hottest team in the NBA comes to town on Tuesday night when the Jazz host Memphis, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MST.

drop a if you love basketball #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/2ZSWg7joSW

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 4, 2022

Utah appears to be at a crossroads in its season — and games for that manner. Despite losing to Dallas, LA Clippers, and Golden State in the past week, the Jazz held second half double-digit leads in each game before coming up short. 

If NBA games were played between 36-42 minutes, a legitimate argument can be made that Utah would be the best team in the league. But games are 48 minutes long, and it’s those final minutes where the Jazz have struggled most — a concept that head coach Quin Snyder acknowledges and believes they can fix. 

“I don’t think we’re in a good place for the last six minutes,” Snyder said on Saturday night. “It’s not a good feeling in the locker room right now because guys want to win. … We should understand that when we do play a certain way, and we continue to play that way, the theme has to be that we play together.”

While it’s unknown if anything has changed within the team, there was a noticeably different vibe at practice on Monday. 

Some players were involved in intense and physical games of 1-on-1, while others shot around and worked on their respective games. But the common theme was the laughter and joking with one another, with everyone smiling and looking free — not bad for a team that some believe to be fractured, rumors Clarkson shot down immediately.

“We got whatever it was off our chest,” Clarkson said. “We talked about it, it ain’t like ain’t nobody care, but it ain’t none of y’all business. It ain’t nobody else’s business about what happened and what we do. We’re figuring it out, just like everybody else.”

| locking in before playoffs #PracticeInterviews | @zionsbank

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 4, 2022

The good news entering Tuesday night, apart from starting a mini homestand, is that the team continues to get healthy and find its rhythm. 

Bojan Bogdanovic and Danuel House Jr. are fully back after missing at least eight games each, while Hassan Whiteside has a solid performance in returning to the court on Saturday. Every minute that the Jazz can play with their roster available is another minute they can continue building chemistry and getting locked in ahead of the postseason. 

While House and Whiteside have proven to be valuable assets off the bench, getting Bogdanovic back to his form before his injury in mid-March has to be of utmost performance. 

Whether off the dribble or on the receiving end of the pass, his elite shooting is essential for the Jazz. It forces defenses to spread the floor, allowing Utah’s offense to flow freely, open up passing lanes and dictate the pace of the game. 

“We showed this year that we need every single guy, so coming into the postseason, I think that for us, it’s most important to have a healthy team and everyone available to play,” Bogdanovic said. “I know that we are good enough to play against anybody. … We gotta stick together, we gotta get a couple Ws to get that confidence back heading into the playoffs.”

Bojan is 17 threes away from a career-high for made triples in a single season

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 4, 2022

STATS
Utah (46-32, 27-11 home / No. 6 Western Conference)
Offense
*113.4 Points Per Game (No. 7 in NBA)
*116.3 Offensive Rating (No. 1 in NBA)

Defense
*107.9 Points Per Game (No. 10 in NBA)
*110.6 Defensive Rating (No. 12 in NBA)

*Donovan Mitchell: 26.1 points / 5.4 assists / 4.1 rebounds / 1.5 steals
*Rudy Gobert: 15.3 points / 14.7 rebounds / 2.1 blocks / 70.9% shooting 
*Bojan Bogdanovic: 18.0 points / 4.2 rebounds / 38.7% 3P-shooting
*Jordan Clarkson: 16.1 points / 3.4 rebonds / 2.3 assists

Memphis (55-23, 26-13 away / No. 2 Western Conference)
Offense
*115.4 Points Per Game (No. 2 in NBA)
*114.4 Offensive Rating (No. 4 in NBA)

Defense
*109.2 Points Per Game (No. 12 in NBA)
*108.6 Defensive Rating (No. 6 in NBA)

*Desmond Bane: 18.2 points / 4.4 rebounds / 43.0% 3P-shooting
*Jaren Jackson Jr.: 18.2 points / 5.8 rebounds / 2.3 blocks
*De’Anthony Melton: 10.8 points / 4.5 rebounds / 37.5% 3P-shooting

MATCHUP TO WATCH
*Rudy Gobert vs. Jaren Jackson Jr.
— Following two of his best performances of the season, Gobert looks to be a man on a mission as he’s finding more success when he gets the ball with his back to the bucket. Likewise, Jackson is one of the more offensively-successful centers in the league as he’s capable of playing both inside and out, which will force Gobert to defend him on the perimeter. If Gobert can contain Jackson, the Jazz could return to their winning ways

INJURY REPORT
Utah
QUESTIONABLE — Trent Forrest (concussion protocol)
OUT — Udoka Azubuike (right ankle surgery) 

Memphis
DOUBTFUL — Dillon Brooks (right hip soreness)
OUT — Ja Morant (right knee soreness)
OUT — Tyrell Terry (left foot soreness)
OUT — Killian Tillie (left knee soreness)

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Time: 7:00 p.m. MST
Location: Vivint Arena / Salt Lake City, UT
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: 1280 The Zone