This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

This has the potential to be a big week for the Utah Jazz.

Why, you ask? Why would this week be significant in a season that lasts through mid-April?

Here's the answer. The Jazz don't want to lose contact. With that, we mean contact with the .500 mark, especially early in the year.

It's fairly obvious that this is a much better team than last season. It's obvious that the Jazz are more competitive, are developing guys that could have some star power and want to maintain the consistency and the confidence that improved play has yielded early on.

So this week isn't central to that, but it is important. You can argue that of their four games in the next seven days, Utah should only be favored tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After OKC on Tuesday night at EnergySolutions Arena, the Jazz travel to Golden State to face the Warriors, come home to face the New Orleans Pelicans and then meet the Chicago Bulls next Monday.

That's quite a week. Three teams that look to be in the postseason hunt, and three teams with some of the NBA's elite players. The Jazz are currently 4-7, a bad week can put them in a difficult spot.

"It's definitely going to be competitive for us," Utah center Derrick Favors said. "We're going to have to play well if we want to get some wins. We just have to pay attention to detail and take things slowly."

The good news is that the week isn't nearly as travel intensive as last week. The Jazz will play tonight, then take a few days off before meeting the Warriors. They do face the Pelicans on a back-to-back, but then get the Bulls after another day off.

In doing so, here are the slate of players Utah will be running into: Serge Ibaka, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, Jimmy Butler. Oh yeah. That guy Derrick Rose is currently sitting out with a strained hamstring. He could very well be healthy in six days.

So the Jazz are going to have a fun time navigating yet another stretch through the minefield's of the NBA's Western Conference. It all begins tonight with a depleted Oklahoma City team. Looking at all of the evidence, tonight looms fairly important.

Tony Jones