Jazz To Face Former Teammate Derrick Favors, Two Struggling East Teams

Jan 5, 2020, 7:03 PM | Updated: 7:49 pm

Royce O'Neale #23 of the Utah Jazz dunks as Derrick Favors #22 of the New Orleans Pelicans defends during a preseason game at the Smoothie King Center on October 11, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

BY TREVOR ALLEN, KSL SPORTS

KSL Sports

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz are red-hot to start the new decade, winning both contests in January and have won five straight and 10 of their last 11 games.

The schedule favors the Jazz this week and beyond. Their three games this week and their next seven games are against teams with losing records. Of those seven contests, three are at home and four are on the road.

This past week, Utah started with a blowout win over the Detroit Pistons, 104-81 in their final game of 2019. Then they started a three-game road trip in Chicago where Rudy Gobert’s defense led the Jazz to a four-point victory. On Saturday, the Jazz got past the Orlando Magic with their hot three-point shooting in the fourth quarter.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz in scoring in two of the three games last week. He scored 23 points against the Pistons and 32 against the Magic. Bojan Bogdanovic posted 19 points in the win over the Bulls.

The recent run for the Jazz has put them in the fifth spot in the Western Conference. They are 1.5 games behind the Clippers for the fourth spot and one game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks.

Last week, the NBA released the first round of voting results for the upcoming NBA All-Star game. Mitchell is getting the seventh most votes among guards in the Western Conference.

The first returns from #VoteNBAAllStar 2020!

Make YOUR vote count twice today by voting here ➡️ https://t.co/VMuxMjeZQO pic.twitter.com/qRzXqLxMti

— NBA (@NBA) January 2, 2020

1/6 @ New Orleans Pelicans

The Jazz look to win their sixth consecutive game when they finish their three game road trip against the New Orleans Pelicans. It’ll be the second meeting between the two teams this season. The first meeting took place in Salt Lake City with the Jazz getting a 128-120 win on Saturday, November 23.

Former Jazzman Derrick Favors did not play in that game due to a back injury but is healthy now. He is averaging 8.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and one block per game this season.

New Orleans is led by the trio of Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday, and J.J. Redick.

Ingram is posting 24.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Holiday is averaging 19.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists, while Redick is putting up 15.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2 assists per game this season.

😳#TakeNote #KSLSports @spidadmitchell @Joeingles7 pic.twitter.com/Tj7PWpZJyE

— Sam Farnsworth (@SFarnsworthKSL) November 24, 2019

The Jazz won the 2018-19 season series with the Pelicans, 2-1.

Team Records (as of January 5):

Utah: 23-12 (10-9 Away) – 2nd in Northwest Division, 5th in Western Conference

New Orleans: 12-24 (6-11 Home) – Last in Southwest Division, 14th in Western Conference

Where: Smoothie King Center (16,867) in New Orleans, Louisiana

When: Monday, January 6 at 6 p.m. (MT)

TV: NBA League Pass and AT&T SportsNet

Radio: 97.5 FM

1/8 vs. New York Knicks

Utah’s first home game of 2020 is against the struggling New York Knicks. It’s the first matchup between the Knicks and Jazz on the 2019-20 schedule.

The Knicks are in a bad spot after firing head coach David Fizdale earlier this season. They are led by forward Julius Randle who has averaged 18.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest this season. The Knicks’ next leading scorer is forward Marcus Morris with 18.5 points. Third overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft R.J. Barrett is averaging 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season as a rookie.

With this 3-pointer made, the Jazz have tied their franchise record for 3's made in a game (20) pic.twitter.com/qcuYiHdIUt

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 21, 2019

The Jazz swept last season’s series against the Knicks by a combined 53 points. Utah defeated New York 129-97 on December 29 at home and 137-116 on March 20 at Madison Square Garden.

Team Records (as of January 5):

Utah: 23-12 (13-3 Home) – 2nd in Northwest Division, 5th in Western Conference

New York: 10-26 (5-14 Away) – Last in Atlantic Division, 14th in Eastern Conference

Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena (18,306) in Salt Lake City, Utah

When: Wednesday, January 8 at 7 p.m. (MT)

TV: NBA League Pass and AT&T SportsNet

Radio: 97.5 FM

Tickets: From $14

1/10 vs. Charlotte Hornets

The Jazz look to take the season series against the Hornets on January 10. Utah took down Charlotte in the first meeting of the season. The Jazz defeated the Hornets in Charlotte 114-107 on December 21

In the December 21 win, Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder was ejected for just the second time in his career in the fourth quarter. Bojan Bogdanovic led the Jazz with 26 points, while Donovan Mitchell added 20 points and 9 assists. Rudy Gobert had a massive performance with 17 points, 19 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Charlotte is led by backcourt duo Devonte Graham and Terry Rozier. Graham is posting 19 points, 3.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists, while Rozier is averaging 17.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

The Jazz swept the season series during the 2018-19 season with a 119-111 win in Charlotte on November 30 and 111-102 at home on April 1.