J
Jasen Lee
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CHARLOTTE — Riding the wave of a five-game win streak, the Utah Jazz (18-11) face their toughest test in a couple of weeks as they get set to take on the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 team in the Miami Heat (21-8) on Monday.
The Heat have lost just one game at American Airlines Arena this season and have won their last two ball games versus the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers. They will be hosting the Jazz in the second game of a four-game home stand.
Miami is led by forward Jimmy Butler (20.4 points/game, 6.4 rebs., 6.8 asts.), one of the better two-way players in the NBA, who came over from Philadelphia in a four-team trade during the off-season after signing a four-year $140.7 million contract with his former team. Fellow frontline mate Bam Adebayo (15.6 PPG, 10.6 Reb.) provides strength on boards, while center Meyers Leonard is one of the best long-range shooting big men in the league at 47.4% from downtown; guards Duncan Robinson (12 ppg) and Kendrick Nunn (16.4 ppg) are also solid players that will test the Jazz on both ends of the floor.
The Heat rank No. 3 in team field goal percentage league-wide and No. 2 in 3-point shooting percentage, so Utah will have to spend much of their defensive effort closely guarding the perimeter and trying to force Miami into the basket where Jazz center Rudy Gobert can use his skills to wreak havoc. One glaring weakness the Heat have is their propensity to turn the ball over — just over 15 times per game. If the Jazz can force Miami into some mistakes, those turnovers could prove to be valuable scoring opportunities they could potentially take advantage.
The Jazz have struggled against teams with winning records so far this season — having beaten just four (the Clippers, Sixers, Bucks, Nets) — all at home. After the win at Charlotte on Saturday, Gobert said this contest against a strong Eastern Conference foe could be a good measure of how much the team has truly progressed since their disastrous 1-4 Thanksgiving road trip.
“I think we should be excited about this challenge. We haven’t played a top team the last few weeks so it’s going to be a good challenge for us,” he said. ”Hopefully we’ll do what’s right, recover, take care of bodies and be ready for a good fight.”
After a strong performance against the Hornets, Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic expressed confidence that Utah should be in a position to compete favorably versus a well-coached Miami team.
“They’re one of the best teams in the league. They play great at home, I think they have only lost one game, but we are in a great mood right now winning five games in a row so it’s going to be a great, interesting game,” Bogdanovic said. “At the end of the day it’s going to come to our defense again, and if we play like we play second half (against Charlotte), we will have chance to get a six in a row.”
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