Utah Jazz: 39-22, 4th Place in Western Conference

QUESTION: “Who will step up next to Donovan Mitchell offensively?”

The Jazz finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA last year, but they suffered a disappointing loss to the Clippers in the Western Conference Semifinals. 

One of the biggest question marks for last year’s Jazz team was who was going to step up around Donovan Mitchell when it mattered most and that same question still applies this season, as Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert are all streaky scorers offensively. 

Utah ranks first in the league in offensive rating this year and they rank second in the league in points per game, yet finding someone else to score 20 points on any given night for this team besides Donovan Mitchell seems impossible.

Maybe Jordan Clarkson is the No. 2 scoring option for the Jazz, but he comes off-the-bench for them and the Jazz do not like playing him in rotations with Conley and Mitchell both on the floor. 

The Utah Jazz are certainly a contending team in the Western Conference, but they must have someone step up down the stretch, especially if they are to beat either the Suns, Warriors or Grizzlies in a playoff series. 

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With Donovan Mitchell out this season, the Jazz really struggled offensively and while he may go for 30 or more points in a game, the Jazz are not going to go anywhere in the playoffs unless they can get others to step up as well. 

Three-point shooting will once again be a point of emphasis for the Jazz, but just like how three-pointers were the downfall of the Houston Rockets a few years ago, this is really looking like a similar story with the Jazz.