Starting Lineups
You have to go back to the Derek Fisher era for the last time the Jazz won at Atlanta. The Hawks have given the Jazz fits the past few seasons with their athleticism. They're one of the slower-paced teams in the league but also have almost the best offensive efficiency.
They started out the season hot, winning 6 in a row. Those wins though came against Memphis, Philly, Washington, Cleveland, Detroit, and Minny. So how much of their offensive prowess has come because of that? Hard to say. They were ranked #2 last season in offensive efficiency and #10 the year before that.
Since then, they've lost 3 straight to Phoenix, Orlando, and Milwaukee by an average score of 106-98. So they're struggling against good teams. In the game against PHO, they had an offensive rating of 123. That's against Phoenix though. Against the Bucks, it was 99.8. Milwaukee is a good defensive team. And against the Magic, their offensive rating was 97.4, not good. Once again, Orlando is a good defensive team.
If the Jazz run the offense right and execute, they should be able to put up some good numbers against this team. The Jazz right now are 11th in the league with a defensive rating of 105, a little better than the league average.
So what team will we see tonight?