The Utah Jazz are the consensus No. 1 team in five national NBA power rankings.
Utah did lose to both Dallas and Phoenix this week, but turned things around with a win over the Portland Trail Blazers that featured an impressive third-quarter scoring outburst.
The Jazz still have the best record in the NBA at 39-13 and sit 2.5 games ahead of the Suns for the No. 1 spot.
Here’s where national publications slot the Jazz in power rankings this week:
ESPN — No. 1 (Last week No. 1)
What they said about the Jazz:
“The Jazz have won their past nine games, giving them the three longest winning streaks in the league this season, led by Utah’s 11-game run in January. The Jazz’s pair of franchise pillars have been especially dominant during the streak. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 28.1 points and 5.6 assists per game with .531/.516/.953 shooting splits. Rudy Gobert is averaging 15.7 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.3 blocks with a plus-30.6 net rating. — Tim MacMahon
NBA.com — No. 1 (Last week No. 1)
What they said about the Jazz:
“The Jazz now have the three longest winning streaks of the season. They rank first both offensively and defensively over the current, nine-game streak, with four of the nine wins having come by 25 points or more. Donovan Mitchell has been rather ridiculous; He missed all nine of his 3-point attempts in the first win of the streak, but has since shot 32-for-53 (60.4%) from beyond the arc. He shot 31.5% on pull-up 3-pointers through his first three seasons in the league, but is at 38.4% this season. The Jazz get a lot of their 3-pointers off drives and ball movement, but they also have four of the 29 players — Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic (39.4%), Mike Conley (39.3%) and Joe Ingles (44.6%) — who have shot 38% or better on at least 50 pull-up 3s.
Mitchell missed the Jazz’s win in Memphis on Wednesday, but Conley capped a 26-point performance with three big pick-and-roll buckets in the paint down the stretch. It was on non-restricted area paint shots (floaters and short jumpers) where Conley saw the biggest drop-off from his last season in Memphis (44.8%) to his first season in Utah (34.9%). And it’s on those shots where he’s seen the biggest improvement this year (50.8%).
The schedule gets tougher this week and, as good as the Jazz have been, Phoenix is still just three games back in the loss column, having won the first head-to-head meeting (back in December). Game 2 of the season series is Wednesday, one of three fun, Western Conference matchups the Jazz have in the next four days.” — John Schuhmann
Sports Illustrated — No. 1 (Last week No. 1)
What they said about the Jazz:
“Don’t let Joe Ingles’ rags-to-riches story fool you: Utah’s veteran forward is an integral part of the Jazz attack, providing an effective boost of versatility alongside max players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. The Aussie forward is an expert initiator off the bounce, and he continues to be a marksman from beyond the arc. Ingles always appears a step ahead of the defense. He pings the ball to open shooters with ease, and he plays with a swagger uncharacteristic of a balding man in his 30s. If Utah finally breaks through and reaches the Finals, Ingles will be a major reason why.” — Michael Shapiro
CBS Sports — No. 1 (Last week No. 2)
What they said about the Jazz:
“The Jazz had no problem with a soft stretch in their schedule this week, beating the Cavs, Grizzlies, Bulls and Magic to extend their winning streak to nine games. Utah set an NBA record with 18 first-half 3-pointers in a 46-point lambasting of the Magic on Saturday. Donovan Mitchell missed Wednesday’s win in Memphis to collect himself after Utah’s terrifying plane experience, but averaged 22.3 points on 52 percent 3-point shooting in the other three games.” — Colin Ward-Henninger
NBC Sports — No. 1 (Last week No. 1)
What they said about the Jazz:
“Casual fans will say that defense/Donovan Mitchell/Rudy Gobert are behind Utah’s run to the top of the standings (and these NBA power rankings). They’re not totally wrong, but the reality is it’s the 3-ball that propelled the Jazz the NBA’s best record. Utah is averaging 43 attempts from three a game — the most per game in NBA history, topping the 2017-18 Houston team — and is hitting 39.5% of them. That’s 17 made threes a game on average, blowing out the previous record of 15.3 per game by those same Rockets.” — Kurt Helin