After an eventful trade day for the Utah Jazz, they’ll take on the Golden State Warriors tonight in a marquee matchup.

Tonight they’ll be doing it without Rudy Gobert, among others, again.

It’s another night without Rudy Gobert and Rudy Gay, and now Joe Ingles is off the team. It’s not clear when Nickeil Alexander-Walker will be available to play, but obviously won’t likely play tonight.

For the Jazz this is an opportunity to take on a very good Warriors team and prove that they’re still a contender. It’s been a wild 30 days for the Jazz but their recent play has renewed some hope they can prove they’re a contender. It’s just the regular season but the Jazz need to show what they’re all about or the front office may look to improve the team, or at least make changes, with the deadline tomorrow.

That’s not to say the Jazz haven’t already made up their minds about certain things but a strong showing tonight can bolster the belief that this team is worth keeping together for the rest of the season.

Speaking of this roster, Donovan Mitchell has looked like his old self again in the Jazz’s recent winning stretch. In his last two games Mitchell is averaging 29.5 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and is shooting 58% from the field and 47% from three. Whoa baby! Mitchell has mentioned that dealing with the concussion was awful, but if there is a silver lining to the time it took for Mitchell to overcome the head injury, it appears that time was good for his back because Mitchell looks all-nba level again. It’s a great sign for the future for this Jazz team if they get this level of play from Mitchell.

The question for the Jazz is can their other role players step up? Bojan Bogdanovic has been up and down recently as he’s likely struggling with his finger injury. What type of night the Jazz get from Bogdanovic might be a big indicator of how well they do. The other question is how well does Jordan Clarkson play? Can he have one of his high efficiency shooting nights, or one of the other types of nights.

Finally, what will we see from Udoka Azubuike? In his recent starts the Jazz have seen some really promising signs that DOK can be a nice contributor. If he plays well tonight it could have some serious effects on decisions the Jazz make with the roster. This game is also on ESPN and everyone will be watching. No pressure, DOK!

Game Info:

Date/Time: 2/9/2022, 8:00pm

Location: Vivent Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

TV: ATTSN-RM, ESPN

Radio: 97.5/1280 The Zone, Utah Jazz app