The Brooklyn Nets (27-17, fourth in the Eastern Conference) visit Vivint Arena on Friday to take on the Utah Jazz (24-24, sixth in the Western Conference) for the first of two matchups between the teams this regular-season. The next and final time that these teams will play each other this season will be April 2 in Brooklyn.
The Nets are now 0-4 since Kevin Durant injured his right MCL. Over that span, Brooklyn has struggled to generate offense and they have had poor starts to begin most of their games. In their most recent game, a 117-112 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, Brooklyn was down by as many 24 points in the third quarter only to come back in the fourth quarter thanks to Kyrie Irving finally waking up. Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn has urged his players to start games better so that they don’t have to rely on heroics at the end of games to get win.
The Jazz has won four of its last five games. These wins include impressive victories over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Los Angeles Clippers. Brooklyn will have to focus on limiting Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen as he has scored at least 30 points in 11 games this season, most recently against the Clippers.
Here’s when and where you can tune in to see the matchup: