Jazz Schedule Breakdown

The Utah Jazz 2015-16 Schedule is out and here are my thoughts.

There has been a pattern to Utah’s schedule that was only broken by the 2002 Olympics—a November road trip, December pre-Christmas trip, one more Eastern Conference trip in March. Not this year.  Everything about this schedule is different.

The Jazz open on the East Coast. The Jazz’s first three games are on the road against Detroit, Philadelphia and Indiana. The home opener is November 4 against Portland and Damian Lillard. The last time the Jazz opened in November at home, in a non-lockout season, was 2007. This season’s home opener is the latest non-lockout season home opener since 1994 when the Jazz opened the season on November 4 at home against Miami. The last time the Jazz opened the season with three straight road games was 1991 when the Jazz played at Minnesota, Indiana and Atlanta before opening at home. 

There is no Christmas road trip. The Frank Layden/Jerry Sloan signature pre-Christmas road trip is gone.  Instead, the Jazz will be home from December 15–22 before a single road game at Golden State on December 23.

Ring in the New Year with the Jazz. The Jazz will play a New Year’s Eve game against Portland at home. Lots of teams have had great success with the New Year’s Eve game.

Multiple days off in the middle of road trips is something I have rarely seen in an NBA schedule. The NBA has made a huge effort to get rid of four games in five nights (the Jazz only have one). This means the Jazz will, on three occasions, have back-to-back days off while on the road. In January, the Jazz play at the Lakers on Sunday and next at Portland on Wednesday. In February, the Jazz play Saturday at Phoenix and next in Dallas on Tuesday. In March, the Jazz play at Milwaukee on Sunday and then in Houston on Wednesday.  

I’m a big believer that the luck of the schedule can give a team confidence or rip away its confidence. Give a team five straight games against great teams and they could lose some belief. On the other hand, give a team a stretch of games against non-playoff teams and the team may believe it’s better than it actually is and play that way.

The Jazz avoid any truly murderous stretch until March. March, however, is brutal. The Jazz face six straight playoff teams and then five of their next six games are also against playoff teams. In total, the Jazz play 12 of their 16 games in March against teams that made the playoffs last season.

The Jazz have two four-game stretches that will be tests. In November, the Jazz host Oklahoma City and visit the Clippers, and then play New Orleans and Golden State in Salt Lake City. In December, the Jazz host OKC and then (after an off day) hit the road for a back-to-back set vs. OKC and San Antonio before returning home to host the Pelicans after another day off. 

On the flip side, the Jazz also have some chances to gain momentum. They open the season playing five straight against teams not projected to make the playoffs, though four of those games are on the road. 

Nine of the Jazz’s 15 games in December are against non-playoff teams. 

Finishing January and going into February, the Jazz could really gain some confidence. They have a six-game homestand of Detroit, Charlotte, Minnesota, Chicago, Denver and Minnesota.