It was just about three weeks ago that the Washington Wizards handed the Utah Jazz a tough loss behind monster games from Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal. If the Jazz want to keep that 1 seed in the Western Conference they’ll need to find out a way to slow them down this time.

For Utah, if they aren’t able to slow them down and this comes down to a shootout, that may be difficult because the Jazz will be without two important pieces.

Utah looked tired against the Portland Trail Blazers in their last game but found a way to win behind a big second half from Donovan Mitchell. In this one, Rudy Gobert will be as important as ever to slow down the potent duo from Washington.

Game Info

When: Monday, April 12th, 2021 @ 7pm MST

Where: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City

TV: AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain

Radio: 97.5 FM | 1280 AM The Zone

What to watch for

Who is the next man up with Clarkson and Conley sitting?

I am genuinely curious about this one. If I were a betting man my money would be on Trent Forrest who seems to always be the 1st man off the bench for garbage time for Snyder. Who would I like it to be? Elijah Hughes.

Hughes, in the short minutes that he’s played, has shown a lot of potential. In garbage time and other select minutes in preseason, Hughes has shown a polished offensive game that only seems to improve. He’s making the right passes on offense to the corner three and he’s also able to make a pull-up three with relative ease. At worst Hughes can take a corner three and knock it down with regularity.

This is a great opportunity for the Jazz to give Hughes a little bit of run and see what he can do against bench units. If he can do what he’s shown in his short stints on the floor, the Jazz may have a nice player on their hands. But there’s not way to find out unless he gets some real minutes, which is hard to do as a rookie/second round pick on a championship contender.

Snyder will likely go with Forrest, but here’s to hoping Hughes gets a chance.

Photo by Jeff Swinger/NBAE via Getty Images