He utah jazz returning home Tuesday night after a hard-fought road win against the San Antonio Spursnow tasked with his first NBA Cup game of the year against Devin Booker and the 8-2 phoenix suns.

As the Jazz have had an up-and-down start to the season, things have been going well from the start for the Suns, who sit in second place in the Western Conference and just a half-game out of first place. For Utah to come away with its first home win, this team needs to make sure both sides of the ball are even.

Here are three keys for the Jazz to take home their third win of the season in their first in-season tournament of the year:

It was an aspect of the Jazz offense that had some problems last season, and one that continues this season: turnovers. Starting this season, Utah has picked up right where it left off in the 2023-24 campaign, leading the NBA in turnovers allowed per night with 19.3 per game.

For a young core like the Jazz, it’s no surprise to see where those numbers are. Having seven 23-year-olds who are younger and getting rotation minutes, this team is bound to make mistakes throughout a season focused on development. Still, giving up so many possessions won’t lead to many victories in the left column.

As for the Suns, they’ve kept it more organized on that end of the floor, ranking in the top ten for fewest turnovers allowed per game at 13.8. If Utah wants to keep this game competitive, it will have to match its competition in the giveaway category, either by limiting its own or generating more on the other end.

Last season, some of the Jazz’s biggest successes came when Lauri Markkanen was at his rock-scoring best. When the former All-Star scored 30 or more points during his 2023-24 campaign, Utah went 8-2, proving that if this team wants to be effective on the offensive end, an effective strategy could inevitably be to allow your best scoring players to warm up and find a way to get the ball in their hands.

Markkanen hasn’t started this season as effectively on the offensive end yet, as he’s only averaging 16.7 points on 36.4% shooting from the field, but a higher-stakes game against one of the Western Conference’s best teams presents a perfect opportunity to achieve this. In his third year in Salt Lake City he got back on track in the box score.

Phoenix has a collection of impact defenders who can throw at the Jazz forward like rookie Ryan Dunn or former Jazzman Royce O’Neale, but if Markkanen starts this game off on the right foot and gets his looks to drop, it could be a night long. for the Suns on defense.

The Suns will face a key injury to their lineup on Tuesday night, as Kevin Durant has been declared inactive with a left calf strain. However, with another elite scorer in Devin Booker still in the mix, the Jazz should expect to have some challenges on the defensive end.

Fortunately for the Jazz, Booker hasn’t had the most ideal stretch of games over the last five games, shooting 37.6% from the field and a collective 8/41 from three-point range. Even despite their struggles, the Suns have worked their way to a 4-1 record in that stretch, largely due to Booker’s transition to being an effective playmaker when his shot isn’t falling (9.6 APG in 1.6 TO).

It’s a tough task for any team to take on, but if the Jazz can limit Booker’s options and continue to make him work harder offensively, the path to victory becomes much easier.

The Jazz and Suns will kick off at Delta Center at 7 pm MT.

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