Jazz 2021 Schedule: Top Games, Updated Championship Odds and Predictions

The Utah Jazz have had an impressive start to the 2020-21 season. 

At 25-6, they're in a race with the Los Angeles Lakers for the top seed in the Western Conference, helped mainly by an 11-game winning streak they held in January. They've seemingly impressed everyone, with Rick Carlisle, Lloyd Pierce and more singing their praises to the Salt Lake Tribune's Eric Walden, but former Memphis Grizzlies executive John Hollinger summed it up nicely in his column for The Athletic back in February.

"If this isn't a contender, then I don't know what a contender looks like," he wrote. "For years we've mentally put this team in the 'others receiving votes' category, but no longer. Utah is a legitimate threat to break the city of Los Angeles' stranglehold on the top of the Western Conference."

They're entering the second half of the NBA season locked in as a legitimate contender, but here's a look at what they'll have to get through in order to do so. 

2020-21 Second-Half Jazz Schedule Details

Second-Half Opener: Jazz vs. Rockets; March 12 at 8 p.m. ET

Championship Odds: +950; bet $100 to win $950 (via FanDuel)

Second-Half Schedule: NBA.com

Top Matchups     

Brooklyn Nets (March 24)

The first time the Jazz played the Nets, they were decimated 130-96. And while the Nets were without Kevin Durant and James Harden was still a Houston Rocket, the Utah Jazz similarly hadn't hit their stride. The group that now sits atop the Western Conference at 25-6 was just 4-3 at that point. 

Sure, the Nets have added offensive power since the first meeting back on Jan. 5, but it's no secret their defense has suffered as the team focuses its energy up front. That could pave the way for a major showing from Donovan Mitchell, who dropped 31 points in the loss, while opening up a lane for Rudy Gobert, who was limited to 10 in that inaugural showing.

The Jazz have come a long way since that first meeting, and they're getting the Nets at an easier point in their second-half schedule. It won't be an easy run to the finish line for Utah, which will play 17 of its last 36 games on the road and will squeeze those 36 games into 65 days, but they'll get the Nets early on in the return to play and back at home after a five-game road trip that encompasses the entirety of the country.

This appointment viewing will air on ESPN on March 24 at 10 p.m. ET. After that, it's likely that these are the teams that will square up in the Western Conference Finals. 

Los Angeles Lakers (April 17 and 19)

The top two teams in the Western Conference didn't meet until late in the first half, with their first scheduled game being Wednesday.

But it's no surprise that the Lakers are at the top of the league months after claiming the NBA title.

In what could very well be a preview of the Western Conference Finals matchup, the Jazz will have to counter the Lakers' dynamic duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

James is leading the group with 25.8 points and 8.1 assists per game, while Davis is close behind with 22.5 points and 8.4 rebounds, as well as 1.9 blocks—a measure that is good for sixth fifth in the NBA. Davis is currently out with an Achilles injury but should be back by April 17.

A matchup against the defending champions is a good litmus test for any team, regardless of its record or position in the league standings. But when you consider the ceiling for both of these teams, it's set to be an incredible matchup.

Second-Half Forecast

At the start of February, in the middle of another major winning streak, as Utah won 16 games in a 17-game stretch, the Jazz were the hottest team in the NBA. They had six players averaging at least 10 points per game, with Donovan Mitchell's 24.0 points per game leading an elite group that was backed by Rudy Gobert's 13.5 rebounds (third-best in the league) and 2.7 blocks (second in the league). 

They continued down the stretch, finishing the first half of the season led by Mitchell and Gobert. 

It's a completely different situation to the one the Jazz found themselves in last season, when they made roster additions that should have helped them—adding Mike Conley Jr. in a trade from Memphis and acquiring Jordan Clarkson from Cleveland—but they were nabbed by an injury to Bojan Bogdanovic that limited them in the bubble.

That ending is what's motivating them in 2021.

"I really feel like we came back this year with a purpose," Gobert said, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "I really feel like we have a chip on our shoulder, and we need that if we are going to do what we want to do this year."

The consistency that the Jazz have had in the first half of the season proves they are a team that will be capable of competing with the league's elite down the line. If the group can keep it up heading into the spring and summer, they're set for a different ending than the first-round exits they experienced the past two seasons. 

Record Prediction: 53-19

For all the latest betting information and reaction, check out B/R Betting.

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