What to Watch For: Utah Jazz at Washington Wizards
Jordan Clarkson (00) looks for an outlet pass against the Washington Wizards
The Utah Jazz held off the Boston Celtics for their 29th win of the season, beating Brad Stevens and company 117-109. Utah travels to Washington D.C. to take on the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.
Jazz vs Wizards Throwback:
Utah leads the all time series over Washington 58-48 and is currently riding a 9-game winning streak against the Wizards. The Jazz will try and push that streak to 10-games in a row later this evening against their Eastern Conference foes.
The Jazz and Wizards last met on February 28, 2020 which ended in a 129-119 Jazz victory. Donovan Mitchell and Bradley Beal went toe-to-toe during this matchup, finishing with 30-points and 42-points, respectively.
Key Players:
Donovan Mitchell and Bradley Beal were dominant the last time that the Jazz and Wizards went head to head. Expect tonight to be the same between these two players.
Donovan Mitchell (45) goes head to head with Bradley Beal (3)
Mitchell leads the Jazz in points (24.6) per game, and is second on the team in assists (5.4) and steals (0.9) per game. Mitchell had two clutch three-pointers in the final minutes against the Celtics to help seal the win for the Jazz on Tuesday night.
Beal has been one of the lone bright spots for the Washington Wizards this season. He leads the team in points (32.2) and steals (1.3) per game. He is currently third on the team in assists (4.6) per game.
Fun Facts:
The Jazz will be back in their green uniforms on Thursday night against the Wizards. Utah is currently 1-0 in the 'Earned Edition' uniforms, topping the Houston Rockets 114-99 in the jersey's debut. Jazz fans had differing emotions about the new green look, either loving them, or despising them. No matter which side of the fence they were on, it seemed like all fans had fun speaking about them on social media. There were many references to Sprite and Subway as having similar shades of color to the new Jazz jerseys.
Rudy Gobert broke a 44-year old franchise record, hauling in 28-rebounds against the Golden State Warriors last Sunday.
Donovan Mitchell became the quickest Jazz player in franchise history to reach 6,000 points on Tuesday, reaching the milestone in his 262nd game in a Utah uniform. The previous leader of this category was Hall-of-Famer Karl Malone who reached the 6,000-point mark in his 271st game as a Jazzman.
Quin Snyder won his 300th game as head coach against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. Snyder has been the Jazz head man since the 2014-2015 season, and has led the Jazz to the NBA's best record in 2021.
NBA investigation says that there is no proof as to whether Dennis Lindsey made racially insensitive comments to Elijah Millsap in April 2015.
The Jazz win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday gave them their 29th victory on the year. They currently have a 29-10 record and top the NBA leaderboard. Utah leads the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers by two and a half games in the Western Conference. They also lead the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets by two games in the Eastern Conference.
The Washington Wizards are 14-25 and currently reside in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, and 26th place in the NBA. Although the playoffs seem like a bit of a longshot for Beal and company, it's not completely out of the picture. The Wizards are 1-7 in their last eight games, with their lone win coming against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 4, 2021.
Mike Conley's name has once again landed on the Utah Jazz injury report with a tight right hamstring issue. Thankfully for Jazz fans, it was announced that him being listed as 'out' against the Wizards is only for injury management purposes, and he is likely to play against the Raptors on Friday night. Ish Smith (right-quadriceps) and Thomas Bryant (ACL) are the only two players on the Washington Wizards injury report. They are both listed as 'out' for Thursday's game against the Jazz.
How to Consume:
The Utah Jazz will look to expand their winning streak against Washington Wizards on Thursday night. Fans can catch tonight's game nationally on NBA TV, and locally on AT&T SportsNet. They can also tune into the game on 97.5FM or 1280AM. Tipoff will be at 5pm MST at Capital One Arena.
Bojan Bogdanovic (44) shoots an off-balance shot against the Washington Wizards
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