This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A defining characteristic of the Jazz this season has been their ability to acquire a next game, next play mentality.
Losses that may have bothered Quin Snyder and his crew in previous seasons haven't affected them this year, beyond the immediate aftermath of the loss.
For instance: When the Jazz suffered arguably their worst defeat of the season a few weeks ago at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they shook it off, while the outside noise around the franchise was significant.
"I'm not going to think about the game one bit when I get home," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said at the time.
The Jazz responded to that loss by winning four straight and six of seven.
Saturday was a bad loss to the Chicago Bulls, a team that's been in flux. So the Jazz are hoping to respond again, tonight against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
On the surface, it's important that they do. Utah is fighting to maintain home floor advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They have a road game against the Los Angeles Clippers looming Saturday, and the Clippers at the moment are the Jazz's closest competitor in the Western Conference standings.
That could change, because the Oklahoma City Thunder are nipping at the hells of both the Jazz and the Clippers.
Tonight the Jazz will be without Derrick Favors and Shelvin Mack. Starting shooting guard Rodney Hood is questionable against the Pacers. Favors and Hood have both missed the three previous games on the road trip.
The Jazz have played 70 games this season. They've missed a significant rotation player, at least one, in 66 of those games.
— Tony Jones