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The Utah Jazz are coming off their most impressive offensive performance of the season with a 139-105 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. On top of a blowout, the Jazz had a team record 20 threes in the game.
Georges Niang sets the new @utahjazz franchise record of 20 3's made! #TeamIsEverything pic.twitter.com/Ys1shmswmD
— NBA (@NBA) December 5, 2018
The Jazz have also won 4 of their last 6 games and 2 of 3 since Kyle Korver joined the team.
But is it sustainable?
Against Charlotte the Jazz got 5/9 3pt shooting from Jae Crowder and 4/6 3pt shooting from Threezus. But that win felt a little problematic because of a 14-2 run given up by the Jazz bench.
The loss in Miami received attention after Rudy Gobert made accurate comments about how inconsistent the officiating has been.
Rudy Gobert on whether or not the foul called late sending Wade to the line for the game-winning FTs was correct: pic.twitter.com/G8eQuYBSRS
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) December 3, 2018
But the real reason the Jazz lost the game against Miami was giving up a 19-point lead. The Jazz also weren’t able to take advantage of a team without one of its best players in Goran Dragic. Sound familiar?
The Jazz are coming up on a December schedule filled with a lot of winning teams. To make it to the playoffs they have to exceed expectations. They’re already doing that with Kyle Korver on the team, but can the defense also pick it up?
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Speaking of Kyle Korver. Since joining the Jazz he’s 8/15 from three. Beyond shooting a blistering 53% it’s also spreading the floor like the Jazz hoped.
In the three games since Kyle Korver has joined the Jazz they have had the #2 offense in the league! (according to nba.com)
Kyle Korver (15 PTS) hits 3 triples off the bench in his @utahjazz 2018 home debut! #TeamIsEverything pic.twitter.com/gU3Wsgx0G4
— NBA (@NBA) December 5, 2018
Although, during that period they’ve had the 17th best defense. Korver will continue to shoot the three well but the Jazz still have a defense issue. If they can shore that up, and play the same elite level defense from last year, there’s no reason they can’t surprise people in December.
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Breaking News! It’s cold in Utah in December!
Maaaan. It’s freeezing in Salt Lake City. This can’t be normal
— James Harden (@JHarden13) December 5, 2018
If the Jazz are lucky the cold weather will also produce cold shooting for James Harden and the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
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January 15th is shaping up to be a busy day for the NBA. A lot of players will be eligible for trade and, at that point, it will be a little clearer who will be making a playoff push and who will be having a fire sale.
The Suns will definitely be in the fire sale category.
The Suns' Trevor Ariza is seen by rival teams at the top of the list of players who will be made available via trade after Dec. 15, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 4, 2018
What do you think, Dunkers? Is Trevor Ariza a player worth going after?
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In case you missed it Alec Burks made a pretty good impression on the Cleveland Cavaliers with a game winning dunk.
Man we love this guy already. @AlecBurks10 #BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/8U5uYB8u1M
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 4, 2018
He’s also putting up nice numbers including 13.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 26 minutes per game. His percentages have gone down but over those three games he’s a +15!
This is definitely turning out to be one of those trades that works well for both teams.
Keep it up, AB! You’ll always be an SLC Dunk favorite!