Suns' Keys to Victory Against Jazz

The Phoenix Suns are looking to get back to a .500 record on the season tonight as they face the Utah Jazz.

Who would've thought that sentence would be a reality less than a month into the season?

Not many.

While the Suns have been inconsistent in the early parts of the season, they have shown flashes of being a potential dominant squad, including a big win against the same Jazz squad and going off for 130+ points against the No. 1 defense in the NBA in the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Suns exposed some of the Jazz's flaws the first time the two squads met, but Utah is a tough environment to play in so Suns fans should be ready to expect anything tonight.

Here are the three overarching keys for the Suns to win tonight:

Blitz the Jazz Early and Often

This is as simply put as possible - the Utah Jazz defense has struggled mightily as of late. The defense has ceded 120 or more points in four of their past five contests.

The Jazz are without their sole rim protector in Walker Kessler, who is out due to a UCL sprain in his elbow.

While the Jazz three point defense is good enough, no Kessler spells trouble for the team inside the arc. The Jazz are subpar at creating turnovers, cede one of the highest free throw rates in the league, and simply just don't have the personnel in place to show much resistance.

Phoenix must continue the trend of attacking the hoop more than in previous years, as the Suns shoot free throws at one of the highest rates in the NBA themselves. Increased pressure on the rim will almost certainly lead to more trips to the line and better looks on kick-outs.

Take Jordan Clarkson out of Game Early

The Jazz are undoubtedly Lauri Markkanen's team, but if there was one player that could take over the game tonight and win it single-handedly for Utah, it's Jordan Clarkson.

Clarkson is averaging just under 18 points a night, but has scored 20+ points in five of his last seven contests, including a 30 ball against the Trail Blazers in the most recent game.

That's a testament to who Clarkson is as a player- one of the truest examples of a hot-and-cold scorer.

When Clarkson gets into a rhythm, there's no doubt he can burn any defense in the league for 30, but the inefficiency and inconsistency make it anyone's guess what version of Clarkson will come out on a game-to-game basis.

If coach Vogel can find ways to take Clarkson out of the Jazz offense, or perhaps even blitz him early, we could see a Jazz offense that struggles to get much going outside of Markkanen, which would be similar to the game against Minnesota on Wednesday night where the Timberwolves largely fell flat offensively outside of Karl Anthony-Towns.

Continue to Start Allen, Gordon

Grayson Allen and Eric Gordon continue to be revelations for the Suns. The two sharp-shooting combo guards have been among the best pickups James Jones made this offseason, and both had very strong outings as starters in the Suns first matchup with Utah on October 26.

Allen and Gordon combined for 38 points and 6 made threes that night, and have largely continued excelling in their roles as versatile defenders while also being sharpshooters/ secondary playmakers.

It could be argued that Josh Okogie deserves another look in the starting lineup after a strong performance against his former team, but Vogel should stick to the more talented duo of Gordon and Allen, especially in a game with real stakes.