Utah Jazz (13-11) @ New Jersey Nets (11-12) Key Stats New Jersey home record-5-6 Utah road record-2-8 Last met-New Jersey 84 @ Utah 91 Standings-Utah 9th Western Conference(.542), New Jersey 8th Eastern Conference (.478) Probable Starting Line ups Jazz/Nets PG-Carlso Arroyo/Jason Kidd SG-Deshawn Stevenson/Kerry Kittles SF-Matt Harpring/Richard Jefferson PF-Andrei Kirilenko/Kenyon Martin C-Greg Ostertag/Jason Collins Coach-Jerry Sloan/Bryon Scott Injuries Utah-Keon Clark, Michael Ruffin New Jersey-Alonzo Mourning, Brandon Armstrong, Zoran Planinic Keys to the game Utah 1. Contain Jason Kidd. He's the one most likely to step up and win the game for New Jersey with his experince and leadership. The Nets struggle without him and if Utah can limit his opportunites, New Jersey will suffer. 2. Good Defense. New Jersey struggle as a team from 3 point land, so if Utah can stop them from scoring too many lay ups and open shots they will have a very hard time outscoring Utah to win the game. 3. Rebounding. Utah have got the advantage at the PF and C spots. Greg Ostertag should get a lot of rebounds with Jason Collins marking him, and Andrei Kirilenko will have to play well to stop K-Mart. They outrebounded Washington, only to lose, so they will have to control the boards even more to win this one. New Jersey 1. Scoring from everyone. They have a lineup where their whole team can score, so if they help Jason Kidd out on the offense and get open they will end up with a higher shooting % and find the game a lot easier and less frustrating for the team. 2. Kidd stepping up. He has Carlos Arroyo guarding him and needs to use his experience advantage. If he can outsmart him, he can get more open shots and get more assists. This is Carlos's fiirst season starting and Kidd has been starting for a long time so he should know a thing or two more than Carlos. 3. Kenyon Martin/Andrei Kirilenko. K-mart will have a challenge trying to score on Kirilenko, he's a very good defender but K-Mart has the ability to score on him. Kirilenko can also score aswell so if he can play good D and make AK47 take forced shots Utah will have to rely on someone else (likely Matt Harpring). He needs to try and stop AK47 on offsense and score on him when he has the ball, it will be a hard task but if he can do it Utah will really struggle. Key Matchup- Andrei Kirilenko vs. Kenyon Martin Key Factors- New Jersey are coming off a big loss to Grizzlies. Utah are playing the day after a bad road game against the Wizards. Utah are on the road for this game. Prediction- This game could easily go either way, but Utah by 6.
I predict NJ by 5. The Jazz are bad on the road and not to metion this is a back-to-back game. The Jazz got screwed yesterday, so I think they will be pushing. NJ 93-Jazz-88
I have to agree with BallerAK47. The Jazz have been impressive this year, but not on the road. NJ by 8.
Jazz lose 87-74, they just weren't up to it. Carlos Arroyo played horrible with 0 points and assists in 20 minutes. Next up is the Celtics, which they need to win to go 2-2 on this road trip. They have play on Friday so they better rest up well.
