The Utah Jazz have come back down to earth after a 20-1 run including going 12-2 in the month of February. Granted no one expected the Jazz to win approximately 95% of their games for the whole season but we no longer look like the buzzsaw that we did even two weeks ago. It kind of feels like the team is limping into the all star break and they have a pretty big test against the Philadelphia 76ers tonight if they want to salvage a 2-2 record for this road trip.

The Jazz are coming off a tough loss to the New Orleans Pelicans 129.124. The Jazz were in control through the first two quarters and even up at halftime but ultimately fell behind in the third quarter and were never able to recover. It should serve as fuel for the game tonight according to Donovan Mitchell, who said after the game “This is a tough loss…….we just didn’t have the urgency and that can’t happen”. Quin Snyder lamented the defense “…..if we are not getting stops, it’s harder for us to play offense”. The defense will definitely have to improve to prevent Ben Simmons from dropping 42 points like he did in the last matchup. If the Jazz allow for that kind of performance again plus add in Joel Embiid then it will be a very long game for the Jazz.

The Sixers are coming off an impressive win against the Indiana Pacers on Monday and are looking to avenge a loss against the Jazz just over two weeks ago. For the first meeting between these two teams, the Sixers were without MVP candidate Joel Embiid and a couple other key pieces such as Seth Curry. There has been plenty of back and forth between these two teams stemming back to the controversy between Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell a couple of years ago with rookie of the year so it is always fun to see a head to head matchup between those two.

This game will be a fun sendoff into the all star break and hopefully the Jazz can gut out a win to carry some momentum into the second half of the season.

Game Info

When: Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021 • 5:00 PM MT

Where: Wells Fargo Center - Philadelphia, PA

TV: AT&T SportsNet - Rocky Mountain

Radio: 97.5 FM | 1280 AM The Zone

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

What to watch for

Battle of role players

When the Jazz and the Sixers last played, Ben Simmons was not the only one to have an offensive outburst. Jordan Clarkson casually dropped 40 to nearly match Simmons’ performance. With sharpshooter Seth Curry coming back for the 76ers, it will be interesting to see what kind of effect that has for both teams. Seth Curry is an underrated piece of any team and he a huge key to the success of Philadelphia. Even though Curry is projected to be a starter and Jordan Clarkson is coming off the bench. I am excited to see if the Jazz can contain not only Seth Curry but the rest of Philadelphia’s strong supporting cast.