Jazz limp into New Orleans looking for answers they won't find

The Jazz are circling the drain, and the Smoothie King Center is about to flush them. Utah stumbles in on a five-game skid, bleeding 118.0 points per night while mustering a pathetic 105.2 on offense. On the road? Even uglier—0-2 with a measly 100.0 PPG. This is a team that's forgotten how to score, how to defend, and apparently how to win.

New Orleans, meanwhile, is humming. Three straight wins, 122.8 PPG over their last five, and an offensive efficiency gap (112.9 to Utah's 104.1) that looks like a canyon. Yes, they're without Dejounte Murray and Yves Missi, but Trey Murphy III is cooking at 21.5 PPG lately, and Zion Williamson remains Zion Williamson. The Pelicans also play at a blistering pace (108.0 possessions per game) that should torture Utah's plodding 102.8 tempo—more possessions mean more chances to expose a defense that's leaking oil.

Sure, the Jazz stole one in the first meeting back on October 23rd, 120-119. That was then. This is now—and now, Utah is broken. The Pelicans should run them out of the gym.

DarkHorse AI likes New Orleans -5.5 (confidence 4/5). Lay the points and cash the ticket.