4 things to watch for on the Jazz's 4-game road trip


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz are going on a four-game road trip, with three out of the four games coming against Western Conference playoff teams from last year.

The Jazz will first travel to Houston to take on the Rockets, and then will face the Pelicans in New Orleans, the Mavericks in Dallas, and then finish the road trip against the Timberwolves in Minnesota.

It's a big stretch for the Jazz who are looking to start off the year strong, despite dropping their last two games.

Here are four things to watch for in the upcoming stretch that will determine how well the Jazz stack up against some of the Western Conference teams.

Donovan Mitchell’s efficiency

Mitchell hasn't been bad to start the year, but has been forcing some things and his shot hasn’t exactly been falling at the rate the Jazz would like it to. The Jazz have a deep team and can win a lot of games despite this. But the Jazz need Mitchell to play like a star.

Mitchell’s efficiency is down through the first three games of the season from last year. In his first two games, Mitchell shot 34.4 percent from the field, which is down from 43.7 percent last year. He is averaging 1.5 points less then last year and it is taking him three more shots to do so.

If Mitchell can get that shooting percentage up, it would help the Jazz tremendously on the road trip. It's still early and he'll likely improve as the season progresses, but when that happens remains to be seen.

Utah Jazz defensive rating

Last year, the Jazz led the league in defensive rating, finishing the regular season at 102.9. In a very small sample size this year, the defense is not performing at the same rate and are currently sitting at 17th in the league with a 108.5 rating.

That number is a bit misleading because of the small sample size, and one of the games was against the Golden State Warriors, but if the Jazz want to win on this road trip, they will need to improve dramatically in this category.

Jazz slowing down opposing teams’ stars.

The Jazz will be running into some NBA stars on the road trip, including James Harden, Clint Capela, DeAndre Jordan, Dennis Smith, Jrue Holiday, Anthony Davis, Karl Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler.

In their matchup with the Warriors, stars Steph Curry and Kevin Durant scored 31 and 38 points, respectively. Although a team's best player is generally going to find a way to score, if the Jazz want to make a mark on this road trip, they will need to force these players into tough shots and inefficient games.

Joe Ingles and lights out play

The Jazz have been helped out tremendously by the shooting of Joe Ingles. It is no secret to the NBA that Ingles is a threat from behind the 3-point line. Early on this year, Ingles is shooting a blistering 50 percent from the 3-point line (even after going 1-7 from three against Memphis). He is averaging 19.3 points per game and is also averaging 5 assists per game.

What the casual NBA fan may not realize is that he has been just as effective on defense. In the offseason, national sports media pundit and host of "The Herd" radio show, Colin Cowherd, said, “unathletic Joe Ingles who can’t defend a barstool.”

Ingles, though, is currently averaging 2.7 steals per game, which is just behind the league lead of Paul George and Jimmy Butler, who each average three per game.

Ingles' numbers will likely come down a little with a greater number of games, but he has improved every year and looks to be playing better than ever. If he can keep playing at this level, the Jazz should be able to win many games, including on the four-game road trip.

The road trip begins against the Chris Paul-less Houston Rockets on Wednesday, Oct. 24. It will end a week later on Oct. 31 in Minnesota.

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