Rip City Project
Fansided

Portland Trail Blazers: Power Ranking Northwest Division after week one

By Carson Brown

PORTLAND, OREGON - OCTOBER 08: CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives against Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter during a preseason game at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on October 08, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - OCTOBER 08: CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives against Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter during a preseason game at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on October 08, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images) /

4. Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz was one of the more highly anticipated teams to watch for the week as the additions of Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic give them the potential to reach new heights offensively.

The Jazz went 2-1 opening up there week with a win in Utah over the new-look Thunder in which Mitchell was incredible with 32 points and 12 rebounds. The Jazz played again on Friday in Los Angeles where the Lakers handled them easily. The week ended with Bojan Bogdanovic showcasing his ability to score the rock which was a good sight to see for the newly acquired Jazz forward.

Mike Conley did not get off to the start he had hoped as his Jazz debut was abysmal. He shot 1-for-16 and may have played one of the worst debuts for a player of his caliber in recent NBA history.  Conley had shooting splits of 24/18/90 throughout the week which should have some Jazz fans on edge for some vintage Conley performances.

Donovan Mitchell was excellent and showed no signs of any rust throughout his opening week. Mitchell shot the ball with extreme efficiency. He managed to shoot nearly 60 percent from the field while knocking down half the 3-pointers he attempted. Mitchell seems ready to lead this team once again.

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/1188622503544885249

Rudy Gobert appeared to miss Ricky Rubio’s ability to facilitate throughout this first week. His scoring was all the way down to 7 points a night and he failed to reach double-double digits rebounding as well. Gobert was also miserable from the free-throw line shooting just 25 percent. Rudy appeared out of place all week, but expect him to fix that.

The new addition of Bojan Bogdanovic got off to a scorching start. Bojan was impressive in his first few outings with the Jazz as he shot 50/43/100 and performed exactly how the Jazz wanted him to.

The Jazz are in Phoenix Monday night to face off with the Suns who are off to one of their best starts in a while. The Jazz are back home on Wednesday to face the Clippers in what should be an excellent game. Utah finishes the week with two road games as they’re in Sacramento on Friday and in Los Angeles on Sunday for another matchup with the Clippers.