Utah Jazz vs Chicago Bulls Preview: A medium between two extremes

SB Nation

The Jazz miraculously put an end to their ridicule of a 55-point loss by squashing Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road. Now they’re headed to the Windy City of Chicago looking for

a rare win in the United Center — an accomplishment they’ve only claimed once in the past four years. Now, just to put a smile on the face of Mr. Frownypants on Rainstorm Avenue, a loss would firmly reclaim the 7th spot in the Tankathon race over the Hornets. The Jazz trend towards their usual nefarious tanking ways around this time and this year appears to be no different; Lauri Markkanen himself has recently caught a bad case of injury managementitis.

The Jazz defense? It’s…it’s still…yeah.

This is all you need to indicate on how Jazz games can go south so quickly. When the offense hits a drought, the Jazz are helpless; a fish flopping in shallow water. Chicago’s three-point frequency just tops them over Utah on the statsheet. They attempt 39.1 three-pointers per game, making them at a 35.2% clip. It’s a tale as old as time, the Jazz give up the most three-pointers out of any team in the league at 15.5 a game. The Jazz even recently reclaimed their spot with the worst defensive rating in the entire league at 121.6, a title they’ve held for the last two seasons. Though Utah will have a healthy roster barring Kessler and Niang, meaning there is a 90% chance they do not flat-out give up in the first quarter (seen it about five times as much as I should have).

But enter the Chicago Bulls, who’ve lost four of their last five, enjoying a lovely tea party with their play-in neighbors, Atlanta and Miami. They started off the season on a hot 5-0 note, but have simmered down to a measly 18-21 record since then, including the last meetup between these teams where Lauri Markkanen turned up the heat for a 47-point bomb.

Their 19.2-point-per-game scorer, Josh Giddey, will likely be missing in action with a hamstring strain, leaving Nikola Vucevic and possibly Coby White to fend off the fire. Though Matas Buzelis is in the midst of a career month—19.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.5 BPG—while shooting 48.3% from the field. He’s been the exact two-way versatile forward that makes some fans (you know who you are) make some side eyes to dear, poor, beloved Cody Williams.

Chicago’s interior defense is as sloppy as an ice cream left out in the sun on a hot day — giving up 53.6 points in the paint, ranking them with the fifth most out of any team. Against Houston, they gave up 64 alone in a 119-113 loss. Let’s say nicely…Nikola Vucevic and Jalen Smith lineups just aren’t cutting it for them. They’re not physical enough to stop someone like Keyonte or Lauri from facilitating the offense from inside the arc.

Though it’s much easier to just watch and learn. Galaxies could collapse, and we could be consumed by a black hole by watching a 2026 Jazz-Bulls game.