The Hive Sports

by Alma Bean

Feature Image by Isaac Hale of AP Photo

The Utah Jazz (6-11) starts their two-game road trip against the struggling Memphis Grizzlies (3-13) looking to extend their current win streak.

What to Look For

Utah is coming into this road game hot against a Memphis team that has lost five of their last six games. This is the third matchup of the season where Utah leads the series 2-0. Winning by an average of 15 points against Memphis, this game may seem like a walk in the park. Even though Memphis is last in the league in both field goal percentage (42.3%) and three-point field goal percentage (32.7%), Memphis will force Utah to be smart with their ball movement. Memphis is third in the league in forced turnovers per game (15.4) when Utah has given up the most turnovers per game (16.8).

With the plethora of injuries that has struck Memphis, they’ve gone into every game with the “next man up” mentality. With 13 of their players averaging double digit minutes, Utah will need to account for everyone on Memphis’ roster. Players like Kenneth Lofton Jr., Vince Williams Jr. and Bismack Biyombo should prove to give Utah some issues alongside Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. in their core starting lineup.

Key of the Game

Ball movement to perimeter shooting. In Utah’s game on Monday, ball movement was flourishing as Utah was able to attempt 48 perimeter shots, which is nine more attempts than their average. Jordan Clarkson led the team with nine attempts but Ochai Agbaji, Simone Fontecchio, Keyonte George and Collin Sexton shot made three three-point shots in that game. Utah also had 31 assists in that game, five more than their average, with Clarkson leading the team with ten. Clarkson has only had double digit assists four times in his Utah tenure. This new persona of “play hard and pass” that head coach Will Hardy has put onto this team has been shown to be for the better and Memphis should see this as a very large threat.

Injury Report

Memphis – Josh Christopher (G League) Out, Jordan Clarkson (thigh) Probable, Kris Dunn (personal reasons) Out, Taylor Hendricks (G League) Out, Johnny Juzang (G League) Out, Lauri Markkanen (hamstring) Out, Kelly Olynyk (shoulder) Probable, Brice Sensabaugh (G League) Out

Utah – Steven Adams (knee) Out, Brandon Clarke (Achillies) Out, Luke Kennard (knee) Out, Jake LaRavia (eye) Out, Ja Morant (suspension) Out, Marcus Smart (foot) Out, Xavier Tillman (knee) Out

Where to Watch

Tip-off is at 6:00 p.m. MST on KJZZ and Jazz+.