The Utah Jazz (39-38) will have a tough test tonight as they take on the San Antonio Spurs (64-12) at 7:00 PM at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz (8th) are in a tight playoff race with the Memphis Grizzlies (41-36, 5th), Portland Trail Blazers (41-37, 6th), Dallas Mavericks (39-38, 7th), and the Houston Rockets (38-39, 9th). Every game matters at this point of the season as the Jazz only have 5 games (3 home, 2 road) remaining. It seems like the Western Conference playoff picture changes daily as only 3 games separate the 5th seed from the 9th seed.
Here is Utah Jazz Head Coach Quin Snyder with the media following shoot around:
The Spurs have won the 3 previous meetings this season by an average of nearly 27 points per game. Their last meeting, the Spurs won 96-78 on February 25. The Jazz have won 4 out of their last 5; the Spurs have won 5 out of 6. The Spurs are best in the league defensively as they only give up 92.6 points per game. They are one of the top teams offensively in the league as they score 104.2 (8th overall) points per game and hand out 24.8 (3rd overall) assists a game. The Jazz are second in the NBA in scoring defense at 95.9 points allowed. This is a game that will definitely push the Jazz. Hopefully, they will respond to the challenge.
Gordon Hayward continues to be the leader of the team statistically as he leads the team in scoring at 19.7 points per game. He is handing out 3.7 assists a game as well as picking up 1.2 steals a game. The media caught up with Gordon Hayward after shoot around. Here is the audio:
Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors also met with the media this morning. Here is the audio:
