Utah
What happened in New Orleans? The Utah Jazz didn’t play hard enough. Period.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25245321/AP24024079031152__1_.jpg "What happened in New Orleans? The Utah Jazz didn’t play hard enough. Period.")
NEW ORLEANS — Sometimes the other team is going to shoot better. That’s going to happen. The NBA is, after all, a make-or-miss league. It’s understandable to get beaten by a team that shoots 50% from 3-point land.
But that doesn’t really capture why the Utah Jazz were blown out by the New Orleans Pelicans 153-124 on Tuesday night.
The real reason? The Jazz just didn’t play hard enough.
A good way to keep a team from shooting 50% from 3 is to not let it get easy, open looks early on and get into a rhythm. Defense is about effort. But let’s get away from the arc.
The Jazz’s execution wasn’t perfect on Tuesday night, but it’s not like they were sloppy with the ball. They only committed eight turnovers for the entire game. That’s really good.
What’s not good is that the Pelicans still managed to score 35 fast break points. Since they scored just nine points off the Jazz’s turnovers, that means that 26 transition points came off dead balls and makes.
There’s no way around it. Not getting back on defense is purely about effort.
“The reality of tonight’s game and the reality of the last three games … is we’re just not playing hard enough,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said.
“They had 65 points between second chance and transition, and to give up 35 points in transition on a night where we only had eight turnovers is not very good.”
Everybody knows Hardy’s mantra — play hard and pass. Throw everything else out the window and Hardy would still be happy if he felt like the Jazz were at least playing hard and sharing the ball.
That makes the last three games — losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and Pelicans — a bit harder to live with considering they’ve been getting beaten in the open floor, on rebounds and because of a lack of effort when they need it most.
Hardy is not unrealistic in his expectations. He knows that January is rough and can feel like a slog in the NBA. The midway point of the 82-game grind sets in and starts to wear on bodies and minds.
That being said, the Jazz are not the only team dealing with this. There are 29 other teams playing through the same schedule, and they certainly don’t care if the Jazz are tired.
But it’s not even the physicality of the schedule that mounts in the NBA. It’s the mental fatigue that is most dangerous.
“The initial part of the season has passed, everybody’s a little bit banged up, rumors start to swirl in the media about what’s going to happen with the team and the trade deadline and everything, everyone’s names are being thrown around,” Hardy said.
“Your mind can drift this time of year. I’m always going to try to be very aware of the fact that these guys are human beings and those things are natural.”
Natural or not, there has to be an answer. After all, the best players in the league are able to put aside how they’re feeling, physically and mentally, from tipoff to final buzzer, in order to impact winning for their team.
“There’s plenty of days where I would prefer to rest,” Hardy said, “but that’s not what this job is. This is an everyday business.
“We’ve got to find a way to crank up the gas. Sometimes you’ve got to create an alter ego. You’ve got to just figure out a way to become a crazy person with your hair on fire for two and a half hours, and then you can go back to being tired.”
That’s not something that Hardy is worried about the Jazz lacking. He truly believes his team will find another gear, as it was able to over the last few weeks. But the team does need a bit of a reality check and to own the fact that it isn’t playing up to its potential right now.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
The Utah Jazz are rolling into a big offseason before they into what’s projected to be a wildly different-looking 2026-27 campaign from what they had just seen this past 22-win season.
But before that season is able to get underway, the Jazz have some priorities to address in the offseason––both in terms of constructing their roster and retaining a few key pieces from last year’s group into next year.
That makes their salary cap situation and everything around it important to be aware of in the next few months. So with that in mind, we’ve put together an offseason cap tracker for a glimpse of what the Jazz are dealing with in terms of cap space, contracts, and any of their own free agents hitting the open market.
Let’s break it down:
Maximum Possible Cap Space: $24.7M
The Jazz are currently projected at just under $25 million in cap headed into the summer. That’s without any additional moves made to the roster from how they’re entering the offseason, and without factoring in any free agents’ pending cap holds.
That number is bound to get smaller once the Jazz hash out their contract situation for Walker Kessler, but it could also see an uptick if Utah were to shed salary with some of their non-guaranteed deals, or any other player they wanted to pivot from.
As of now, it allows the Jazz to make a couple of moves around the edges in free agency, but the main focus will lean on signing Kessler to a long-term deal.
Contracts
A glimpse of the Jazz’s contract values for the 2026-27 season, and when they’re slated to hit free agency from their current deals:
– Jaren Jackson Jr.: $49.0M, ’29 PO
– Lauri Markkanen: $46.1M, ’29 UFA
– Ace Bailey: $9.5M, ’29 RFA
– Keyonte George: $6.5M, ’27 RFA
– John Konchar: $6.1M, ’27 UFA
– Cody Williams: $6.0M, ’28 RFA
– Brice Sensabaugh, $4.8M, ’27 RFA
– Svi Mykhailiuk: $3.8M*, ’28 UFA
– Kyle Filipowski: $3.0M, ’28 RFA
– Isaiah Collier: $2.7M, ’28 RFA
– Hayden Gray: $2.1M*, ’27 RFA
– Bez Mbeng: $2.1M*, ’27 RFA
– Blake Hinson (two-way), ’27 RFA
Total: $142.1M
*- non-guaranteed
The biggest chunk of the Jazz’s salary leans on their top two veterans, Markkanen and Jackson Jr., each making a combined $95 million next season alone.
However, the rest of the roster isn’t taking up much money. No one else will be making more than $10 million, and their payroll is a little less than $150 million in total.
Another noteworthy fact: the Jazz’s key roster pieces outside of George and Sensabaugh are all under contract through the next two seasons.
Both of the aforementioned names are also bound to see extension discussions take place this summer, which might lock in their future for even longer.
Free Agents
A look at who from this season’s roster is set to hit the free agent market in July:
– Kevin Love (UFA)
– Jusuf Nurkic (UFA)
– Walker Kessler (RFA)
– Oscar Tshiebwe (two-way)
– Elijah Harkless (two-way)
The biggest name of note is, of course, the Jazz’s restricted free agent big man, Walker Kessler, who Utah is bound to hand a big payday, but it remains to be seen how much that contract––or offer sheet from another team––will be.
Jusuf Nurkic and Kevin Love have also expressed their desire to return to the roster as they hit free agency. Re-signing both likely wouldn’t cost much for the Jazz financially, but instead relies on a question of whether the roster space is readily available to keep both.
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Utah
Golden Knights vs. Mammoth Game 1 prediction: NHL odds, picks, best bets for Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Utah Mammoth is going to be a trendy underdog pick in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Not only does Utah have the novelty of this being its first-ever appearance in the postseason going for it, but the Mammoth tick plenty of other boxes that punters look for in a dark horse. They’re fast, dynamic, and create plenty of quality scoring chances.
The only problem is that they are running into the Vegas Golden Knights, arguably the best defensive team in the Western Conference, in Round 1.
Vegas is a -170 favorite to win the series, and it is -152 to win Game 1 on Sunday night.
Mammoth vs. Golden Knights odds, prediction
The Golden Knights had a weird season. Vegas started hot, took its foot off the pedal, and struggled to regain its form down the stretch. That led to a surprising coaching switch late in the campaign, but the move paid immediate dividends as John Tortorella led the Knights to a 7-0-1 record in his eight games behind the bench.
It should be noted that Tortorella benefited from an easy schedule since taking over in Vegas, but it’s hard to deny that the team looks sparked with a new voice in their ear.
What’s especially encouraging for Vegas is that its most glaring weakness, the play of goaltender Carter Hart, has started to trend in the right direction at the exact right time.
And Vegas is so good in its own zone that Hart doesn’t need to stand on his head to get the team over the line against Utah. If he’s just average, the Knights will stand a chance, especially since Utah’s goaltending situation is just as much of a question mark.
Betting on the NHL?
Outside of Vejmelka outplaying Hart, the Mammoth will also need to get this series on their terms if they want to pull the upset. Utah grades out as a slightly above-average defensive outfit, but its strength is up front with dynamic playmakers like Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller, plus sharp-shooter Dylan Guenther.
For those stars to have an impact, the Mammoth will need to get Vegas to open up and engage in a back-and-forth style. I just don’t see that happening with a team that was so disciplined in its own zone all season. The Knights led the NHL in expected goals against and high-danger chances conceded at 5-on-5, which shouldn’t be a shocker given the personnel in Sin City.
Not only does Vegas boast a deep blueline, but forwards Mitch Marner and Mark Stone are regarded as two of the best defensive minds in the entire sport.
Perhaps Utah can blitz Vegas and pull the upset, but I’d need a bigger number to go against the experienced, defensively savvy Knights in a best-of-7.
And if you’re looking for a play with more upside, have a good look at Vegas to pull off the sweep at 12/1.
The Play: Vegas moneyline (-152) | Vegas to sweep the series (12/1, FanDuel)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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