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Jazz 2016-17 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions
- Updated: August 12, 2016
The Utah Jazz didn’t quite match what many expected them to do in 2015-16, but the team is well positioned to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2012.
The NBA released the Jazz’s schedule for the 2016-17 season Thursday.
It’s not a stretch to say the Jazz qualify for the playoffs last year if Rudy Gobert stays healthy for the entire year. The Frenchman missed 21 games, and during an 18-game stretch between December and January without Gobert, Utah went 7-11.
The Jazz finished the year 40-42, a game behind the Houston Rockets for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Not only should the team be better with the continued improvement of Gobert, Rodney Hood, Dante Exum and Trey Lyles, the arrival of George Hill gives Utah the veteran point guard it sorely lacked last year.
A top-eight seed in the Western Conference should be the Jazz’s minimum goal, and they may even be able to secure home-court advantage in the first round if everything breaks right.
Below is a look at some of the more intriguing matchups ahead for Utah and a prediction for how the upcoming season will play out.
2016-17 Details
Season Opener: Tuesday, Oct. 25 at Portland Trail Blazers
Championship Odds: 100-1 (via Odds Shark)
Top Matchups Minnesota Timberwolves When: Nov. 28, Jan. 7, March 1 and April 7
The Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves are arguably the two best young teams in the West.
Utah is a little further along the road to contention, but hiring Tom Thibodeau as head coach should help Minnesota take massive steps forward. Playing the Jazz will be a nice measuring stick to see whether the Wolves’ potential can materialize this year into actual results.
What will make Utah-Minnesota games so interesting is the matchup between Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.
For a rookie big man, Towns was historically good last year. He averaged 18.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks a game. Those numbers put him in elite company, per Basketball-Reference.com’s play index:
Gobert is nowhere near the scorer Towns is, but his numbers (9.1 PPG, 11 RPG and 2.2 BPG) are more than respectable.
The eventual Rookie of the Year was the clear winner, though, in their three head-to-head meetings. He scored 63 total points on 56.8 percent shooting.
It’s far too early to say Gobert vs. Towns could be one of the next great big-man rivalries, but, especially since they’re in …
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