Every NBA restart team’s schedule ranked
By Ethan Becker
No. 14: The Utah Jazz
Schedule Score: -0.1
The Jazz have a pretty favorable selection of opponents for this eight-game plan, notching a record score of just -1, but it’s the schedule itself that really hurts them.
Utah is one of just two teams in this selection that will face current playoff teams in every game they play. Somehow, they were able to avoid playing three or more of the top three teams in either conference, facing just the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. And while an opening run of the New Orleans Pelicans, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the aforementioned Lakers does seem like it could provide the Jazz with a few key wins, they will all be hard fought games. That wear and tear will hurt them down the line, though admittedly, it’d arguably the hardest stretch of their schedule.
After trading their starting point guard away in the offseason, the Jazz have had a surprisingly good season, landing in fourth place in the Western Conference. However, and as much as I don’t want to mention this I’d be remiss if I left it out, team chemistry is going to be questionable going forward, as there were reported tensions between Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell after the season hiatus.