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SALT LAKE CITY — Basketball season is upon us, so the natural question is: how is the Utah Jazz going to put their stamp on the NBA?
The Jazz begin the 2018-19 season Wednesday night in Sacramento. Every game is important, of course, but these five games are key for Utah in the first 41 games of the season.
If the Jazz can win these games, it would be a big statement as to what the team is capable of and how far they've come since last season.
Utah Jazz @ Houston Rockets (10/24)
The Rockets finished the 2017-18 season atop the Western Conference standings and were hot all year with a blistering 65 wins in the regular season.
After the Jazz toppled the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs last year, they faced the Rockets. The Jazz were outgunned, especially with starting point guard Ricky Rubio missing the series with an injury.
The Jazz will travel to Houston early in the season, with what looks to be their first major road test.
The Rockets lost two 3-point and defensive specialists in Mbah A Moute and Trevor Ariza to free agency this offseason. The two players accounted for 23.5 points per game and both shot above 50 percent from the 3-point line. Ariza guarded Jazz star Donovan Mitchell for much of the playoff series.
The Rockets replaced these two players with Carmelo Anthony, who the Jazz picked on in the first round of the playoffs versus the Thunder.
The Jazz add Thabo Sefolosha (back from a season-ending injury), Grayson Allen, and add another year of experience to a lineup that improved dramatically in the second half of season.
This matchup will be a good measuring stick to see how the Jazz look to stack up in the Western Conference.
Boston Celtics @ Utah Jazz (11/9)
Will the Jazz finally see Gordon Hayward’s return to Utah? Regardless, Boston looks to be one of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference this year.
Jayson Tatum was a member of last year’s rookie class who appears to be a star in the making. Add him to an extremely talented lineup of Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and of course the man who Jazz fans know very well, Hayward, and it is easy to see why a win would be a big one for the Jazz.
Many national media outlets have picked the Celtics as the favorite to win the Eastern Conference this year, including ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo Sports among others.
The Celtics finished last year with a 55-27 record. This game is sure to have Vivint Arena rocking and would prove the Jazz can beat anyone in the East.
Utah Jazz @ Oklahoma City Thunder (12/10)
December 10 will be the first time the Jazz face the Thunder since an intense playoff series last year where the Jazz had to assert their dominance over the higher-seeded team in six games.
The playoff series certainly had the feel of a growing rivalry. That will look to continue this year with the Thunder re-signing Paul George and Russell Westbrook returning.
Utah will have to travel to Oklahoma City for the game and Thunder fans will be as loud as ever as they hope for a small piece of revenge for last year’s brutal ending to their season.
The Jazz and the Thunder are both in the Northwest Division and ended last year tied with a 48-34 record. This year, both teams will be hoping to move up the standings and win the division. With how close the division ended last year, this game may end up being pivotal for any season-ending tie-breaker situations.
Portland Trail Blazers @ Utah Jazz (12/25)
You can’t get much more prime time than a Christmas Day game. The Jazz will wake up Christmas morning hoping to gift the Trail Blazers a loss.
Last season, the Jazz split the season series with the Blazers 2-2. The problem was, the Blazers won the last two meetings by an average of 14 points.
The second loss to the Blazers may have been the biggest loss for the Jazz last season as it came on the final regular season game and carried playoff implications. Had the Jazz won that game, they would have been the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and won the division. Instead, they lost and fell to the No. 5 seed and did not hold home-court advantage in the playoffs.
The Jazz need to prove they will not be bullied by the Blazers, and how better to do it then on the national stage on Christmas Day?
If the Jazz want to win their division and move up in the Western Conference standings, they need to win statement games like this one versus Portland.
Who would have thought the word "rookie" could create such a big divide between two fan bases? Now no longer rookies ... probably ... Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell will get to showcase their exceptional talent against one another.
The 76ers are another likely top three team in the East. Last season, the 76ers beat the Jazz in both meetings by an average of 14 points. Both games happened early in the season when the Jazz were still trying to find their identity and chemistry, and were struggling.
This year looks to be different as both teams finished last season strong. Expect both teams to come out on a mission with something to prove.
Mitchell and Simmons will not be the only matchup to watch. Rudy Gobert and Joel Embiid will be matched up opposite of one another, too. Both pride themselves on being the best centers in the NBA.
The game will be physical. And if the Jazz are physical enough to win this one, the season looks bright for Jazz fans.
