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The 5-game road trip continues for the Brooklyn Nets as they head to Utah to take on Mike Conley and the Utah Jazz.
Brooklyn will be without Caris LeVert, who is out with a right thumb sprain. The Nets are 1-1 on the trip so far, coming off a pretty terrible loss to the Suns on Sunday where they gave up 138 points to Phoenix. Gross.
Here’s hoping some defense - even just some - shows up against the Jazz. Just some. The good news is that Utah is on night two of a back-to-back. Fresher legs for these Nets? Maybe?
WHO: Brooklyn Nets (4-5) at Utah Jazz (7-3)
WHERE: YES (tv), WCBS 880AM (radio)
Hey, there goes Bojan Bogdanovic. Our old friend is now in Utah after spending two good seasons with the Indiana Pacers. As he’s progressed in his NBA career, he’s taken on bigger roles in his team’s offense, and now he’s playing the role of steady second option to Donovan Mitchell (Mitchell’s nickname doesn’t allow for sidekicks, so I’m missing a golden opportunity here to break. DAMN IT!). Bogdanovic has a career high usage rate so far, and he’s managed to boost his 3-point percentage for the third straight season. He’s averaging 21.6 points a game. It’s going to make for a tough night for Joe Harris. Quietly, Harris has been the team’s second best player so far and his 3-point shooting is practically automatic at this point.
For more on the Jazz, see: SLC Dunk
The Nets are without Caris Levert in this game but are still a very tenacious team with good rebounders all around. With the well documented struggles the Jazz have with rebounding so far this season (though on this Jazz winning streak, they have not reared their ugly head), it will be key for the team to players like DeAndre Jordan and Jarrett Allen (who has the league’s best fro) away from the offensive glass. According to Cleaning The Glass, the Brooklyn Nets are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league, BUT there’s a catch.
DeAndre Jordan has been horrendous on defense this year. Yeah, he’ll attack the offensive glass, but he’ll give up a lot more for that offensive rebounding. When Jordan steps onto a court, his team gives up 10.3 points per 100 possessions more points on the defensive end and scores 13.5 less points per 100 possessions on the offensive end. That’s a swing of -23.9 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning The Glass. If Utah can get Jarrett Allen in foul trouble, Jordan walking off the bench will be the sweetest of Jazz tunes.