by Alma Bean
Feature Image: Photo by Jeff Swinger of NBAE via Getty Images.
The Utah Jazz (9-3) travel to face the Atlanta Hawks (7-3) to start their three-game road trip. Utah is currently first in the western conference while Atlanta is currently fourth in the eastern conference.
What to Look For
Atlanta last played the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday and came away with a convincing 117-98 win without their star Trae Young. Dejounte Murray, guard for Atlanta, is second in the league in steals with 2.5 per game while his team is in the top-10 in the league. Atlanta is top-five in free-throw percentage (81.8%), while Utah is one of the highest fouling teams in the league with 22.8 per game. Atlanta will want to drive and force Utah to contest if they went to take advantage of their matchup.
Utah on the other hand will want to take advantage of Atlanta’s ability to drive since they allow opponents 6.4 blocks per game. Utah will be crossing their fingers that their main source of rebounds, Jarred Vanderbilt will be able to make a return on this road trip to bring pressure to Atlanta center Clint Capela. Malik Beasley, who has filled in the starting position in Vanderbilt’s absence, has been averaging 12 points and 2 rebounds and a +/- of +11 on the court. Statistically, Atlanta and Utah play very similar on paper and will provide a true test on the road.
Injury Report
Atlanta- Trae Young: Questionable (shin), Bogdan Bogdanovic: Out (knee)
Utah- Jarred Vanderbilt: Questionable (hip), Ochai Agbaji: Out (G League), Leandro Bolmaro: Out (G League), Johnny Juzang: Out (G League), Micah Potter: Out (G League)
Where to Watch?
Being on the east coast, tip-off between the Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks will be at 5:30 PM MST on AT&T SportsNet.