The Utah Jazz were a playoff sleeper a week ago. One of those young, budding teams, like the Washington Wizards, with pre-season hype to potentially sneak into the play-in tournament at the very least. Maybe the real dance... if things broke right.
Welp, so much for those breaks.
The Jazz lost three of their first four games, including a pair to a Memphis Grizzlies team that was receiving whatever the opposite of hype is going into the season. Adding injury to that insult, starting big man Jaren Jackson Jr. suffered a torn ACL that will keep him out six-to-eight weeks, ESPN reported Tuesday. Lauri Markkanen also left Monday's loss to Memphis, with a sprained wrist.
A fifth straight losing season in Utah seems imminent.
It's a shame, because the
hype was believable. After acquiring Jackson from the Grizzlies in February to create an all-star front-court with Markkanen, and drafting Darryn Peterson second overall this summer to add to a stable of young talent that included Ace Bailey and Keyonte George, the Jazz appeared ready to start winning again. Their predicted win total entering the season was 37.5 at BetMGM, with 91 percent of tickets on the over.
In less than a week since their Oct. 21 opener in Memphis, however, that number is already down to 31.5 -- and odds favor the under at -165. Those over bettors can't feel great about their investment today.
It's only four games, and Jackson is only one player, so maybe it's too soon to completely write the Jazz off. But there's no denying the team's outlook for the season isn't nearly as bright as it once was.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Jazz's preseason playoff hype didn't even last a week
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