Because of the pandemic, the NBA made the unusual move to release just the first half of the season schedule in December.
With just a few games left in that first half, the league on Wednesday unveiled the rest of the schedule.
Here are some highlights of the Utah Jazz’s second-half slate (it will be 38 games total, as two in the first half were postponed because of COVID-19 protocols):
- Utah will open second-half play at home against the Houston Rockets March 12 after the All-Star break (the Jazz’s last game before that is March 3 against the Philadelphia 76ers).
- The regular season will conclude May 16 with a road game against the Sacramento Kings.
- The Jazz have a five-game road trip in March, one five-game homestand in April and another five-game homestand in May.
- Eight back-to-back sets are on the schedule. Four of them are home-home sets.
- The Jazz will play four sets of back-to-back games against the same team. Utah will face the Memphis Grizzlies March 26 and March 27 at home (and again March 31 on the road) and the Los Angeles Lakers April 17 and April 19 on the road. They will play the Minnesota Timberwolves April 24 and 26, with the first game coming at home and the second on the road. They will face the San Antonio Spurs in two consecutive home games May 3 and 5.
- Utah will be on TNT once (March 16 against the Boston Celtics) and ESPN five times (March 24 against the Brooklyn Nets, April 7 against the Phoenix Suns, April 17 against the Los Angeles Lakers, April 19, also against the Lakers and May 7 against the Denver Nuggets).
- The Jazz will play 19 games at home and 19 on the road. The end of their schedule is home-heavy, as six of their nine May games are scheduled to be played at Vivint Arena.
- That May schedule is primed to be favorable, as three of the last five are against teams currently out of the playoff race in the Western Conference.