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There really isn't much to say here. It's the do or die playoff format, and if the Utah Jazz win, they advance to play the New Orleans Pelicans. and, well, if they lose to the Washington Wizards -- one of the worst teams in Vegas -- then they deserve to go home. The Wizards are playing six guys 20+ mpg, and these really aren't killers: rookie #15 pick Kelly Oubre Jr., and then Scott Machado, Jarrid Famous, Scott Suggs, Aaron White, and Damion James. No disrespect to those guys, and the rest of the bench of even less notable guys (Toure' Murry chest taps), but even if the Jazz are playing their third game in a row, their fourth game in five, and seventh in ten they should still win tonight. I will say, in their defense, they are bigger, and are getting near double double contributions from Oubre and Famous -- their starting bigs. Scott Machado is a NBADL vet, and knows what he's supposed to do.
I don't think losing to Washington, the 20th seed out of 24 teams, is impossible. It just would be a very uninspiring finish to what at one point seemed to be so much franchise momentum.
You still hold out hope for Rodney Hood; though he's just not going to play I don't think. So get ready for another 40 minutes of Bryce Cotton, Trey Lyles, Chris Johnson, Jack Cooley, Brock Motum, Jarred Cunningham, JaJuan Johnson, and newest Jazzman, J.J. O'Brien!
TONIGHT // @utahjazz vs. @WashWizards Time: 6:00pm MT TV: @NBATV Preview: http://t.co/lEzMgHqvyj #NBASummer pic.twitter.com/vXjLUEDFPc
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 15, 2015
This game isn't going to be played live, apparently. (It's not on NBA TV, unlike what the Jazz claim. Just on their league pass thingy) I am entirely okay with that. The game, as seen above, starts at 6 PM MT.