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After a tough loss against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Utah Jazz hope to lick their wounds against a Boston Celtics team that looks to have figured things out.
Boston has won its last two games including an overtime win against Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors.
That might have given the Jazz more of a chance if they weren’t coming into the game on their own back end of a back to back and playing a third game in four nights.
Woof!
Donovan Mitchell had some vintage moments last night against the Sixers, but he has yet to find his three point shot this season. There’s no better night for that to happen than tonight against a very tough defense in the Boston Celtics.
One exciting note tonight for Utah is Raul Neto has been cleared to play. The Jazz could really use some fresh legs in a game they will surely be struggling with fatigue late.
Jazz PG Raul Neto is AVAILABLE for tonight’s game vs. Boston.
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) November 17, 2018
Game Info:
When: 5:30 p.m. MT, Saturday Nov. 17
Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
TV: AT&T SportsNet, NBA League Pass
Radio: 1280AM/97.5 FM
Injuries:
None reported
None reported
What to watch for
Can the starting lineup turn it around or is it time for a change?
Andy Bailey recently wrote about whether the Utah Jazz should change their starting lineup. It’s a great read and you should check it out. If you haven’t, then you should definitely feel bad.
Starting lineups haven’t been announced yet, but the worst kept secret about the Jazz is that things aren’t working with the current iteration. Ricky Rubio can’t score. Derrick Favors, though he has shown a reliable corner three, is not spacing the floor like you would hope. And Gobzilla Rudy Gobert is not a shooter.
Because of these offensive disadvantages, players are pushing and playing outside of themselves. Donovan Mitchell is having to work too hard for too many shots and Ricky Rubio is turning the ball over at an alarming rate (just under four a game) and making bad fouls. Last night Ricky had two late fouls, and a transition turnover, that were killer.
The only reliable force has been Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert. At some point something has to change or do you just continue to bang your head against a wall that isn’t going to budge?
Will that happen tonight? Or any time soon? Can Ricky Rubio have a turnaround like he did last season?