Oddsmakers Reveal Updated Jazz Adjusted Win Total for 2023-24

The oddsmakers have changed their outlook on the 2023-24 season for the Utah Jazz. Starting the year Utah was projected to win 34 games, but with over 25% season behind us, FanDuel has Utah coming in at 29 wins.

Considering all of the uncertainty in Salt Lake City, this shouldn't be a surprise. Head coach Will Hardy has spent much of the season thus far figuring out which rotations work best. It’s been a rocky road, but Hardy may have stumbled across something that works.

The injuries to Keyonte George and Jordan Clarkson forced Hardy to go back to the original starting backcourt that started in Utah’s first two preseason games. The Talen Horton Tucker and Collin Sexton combination originally yielded subpar results, but over the last five games, Utah is 3-2 with an offense that looks much more fluid.

Over that five-game span Sexton has averaged 25.6 ppg while also dishing out four assists. Horton-Tucker has also put up impressive numbers, averaging 19.2 points and 5.8 assists per game. More importantly, the pair averaged 3.4 turnovers a game between them while logging over 30 minutes a game.

Turnovers were the Achilles heel in the first quarter of the season, but since the change in the starting lineup Utah is averaging 13.6 a game. For the season, Utah is still ranked last in the league in that department at 17 per game. However, turning the ball over at the rate over the last five games would put Utah in the middle of the pack.

The obvious question moving forward is, what will Hardy do when George and Clarkson come back? That remains to be seen, but from this point of view, a George-Sexton starting backcourt makes the most sense.

Sexton looks much more comfortable in a shooter guard role than he does as the primary facilitator. George is the point guard of the future, and despite Horton-Tucker's recent success, the long-term outlook for Utah bodes better with starter minutes being deferred to George.

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