SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz are in the midst of an eight-game win streak, and have a chance to build on their best stretch of the season when they face the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards at home this weekend.

After a strong, albeit unspectacular 12-7 start to the season, the Jazz have climbed to 20-7, and sit within 2.5 games of the best record in the NBA.

With the team back to their winning ways, let’s look back at the numbers behind the Jazz’s eight-game win streak, and how they’ve made such a dramatic improvement over the last three weeks.

What Numbers Reveal About Jazz Streak

Offense Has Gone From Great To Greater

Over their first 19 games of the season, the Jazz led the NBA in offensive rating, coming in at 114.9 en route to a 12-7 start to the year.

However, over their last eight games, the Jazz’s offensive rating has skyrocketed to 127.4, bringing their season average to 117.7, more than four points better than the second-ranked Charlotte Hornets.

so @vivintarena got LOUD loud for that one! pic.twitter.com/ENrkfqsXeJ

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) December 16, 2021

Much of the Jazz’s recent success on the offensive end is due to shot-making, with the team climbing from knocking won 34 percent of their three-point shots over the first 19 games of the season to 44 percent over their last eight outings.

The Jazz are now knocking down 19.3 threes per game during their win streak after connecting on just 14.4 to open the year.

The team is also turning the ball over less frequently, having the 10th-lowest turnover percentage during the streak as opposed to 24th to begin the season.

Jazz Defense Has Slipped Some

Surprisingly, the majority of the Jazz growth has come on the defensive end as the team’s defensive rating has slipped, as has their ranking.

The Jazz owned the eighth-best defense through the first 19 games of the season at 105.0, but have dropped one spot to ninth defensively, with a rating of 108.5.

Hassan block
Don bucket#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/bzhehXbHtp

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) December 12, 2021

Defensive ratings across the NBA have climbed over the last month after a slow shooting start for NBA offenses, but the Jazz haven’t quite kept pace with how they opened the year.

Despite the minor dip, the Jazz net rating, which is the difference between their offensive and defensive rating has climbed from 8.5 to begin the year to 18.9 over the streak, both ranked second during their respective stretches.

Overall Jazz Are In Great Shape

Despite not having a top-five defense during either the first 19 games of the season or in their last eight games, the Jazz do have a top-five defense overall for the year.

That’s because only the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns maintained top five defenses over the two stretches.

Otherwise, the teams ahead of the Jazz to open the season defensively have since fallen off, while others have climbed into the top spots.

While the last eight games certainly paint a rosier picture for Jazz fans, they’ve been one of the top teams in the NBA all season long, and now their record matches their numbers.

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