Jazz Have Success In Game 2 Following Loss In Game 1
Apr 16, 2019, 1:04 PM
Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz drives to the basket for a layup against the Houston Rockets during Game One of the first round of the 2019 NBA Western Conference Playoffs between the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz at Toyota Center on April 14, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz trail their best-of-seven first round series 1-0 against the Houston Rockets in the NBA Playoffs. Through the history, this is obviously not unfamiliar territory.
Since moving to Salt Lake City from New Orleans, the Jazz are in their 52nd playoff series, counting all rounds. They are in their 28th first round series.
The goal at this point for the Utah Jazz is to not return to Salt Lake City down 2-0 in this series. It didn’t look promising on Sunday when they lost Game 1 by 32 points.
Down in history for the Jazz, they have been decent when they have lost Game 1 of their playoff series.
Successful Times In First Round
Since this is the first round, Utah has had some success when losing their postseason opener. In the 28 first round series that Utah has played in, they are 14-14 in Game 1, including this season.
In the 14 losses in Game 1, Utah has bounced back to tie the series seven times, 11 of those games were on the road and the Jazz are 6-5 on the road in Game 2 following a loss in Game 1.
As far as winning the series, after losing Game 1 on the road and not having home-court advantage, Utah has won the series five times in the first round.
Looking back through the years, the first time that Utah lost Game 1 in the first round was in 1986 against the Dallas Mavericks, they lost Game 2 and the series. Their first win after losing Game 1 in the first round was in 1988 when they beat the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah went on to win the series 3-1.
LOOKIN' LIVE: Episode 3️⃣
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— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 16, 2019
They had a stretch of four straight occasions where they lost Game 1, but won Game 2, that happened in 1993 against Seattle, 1994 against San Antonio, 1998 against Houston and 2002 against Sacramento. The Jazz advanced to the second round in the series against the Spurs and Rockets.
The Jazz won only two more Game 2’s since that time, in 2010 against Denver, winning the series in 6 games. The last time was last season against the Oklahoma City Thunder, winning the series in six games.
Down Fall
The first round record is promising in potential bounce back games for the Jazz. All of their playoff series in franchise history is a different story.
In the 52 playoff series, including this season, the Jazz are 25-27 in Game 1. When losing Game 1, Utah is 9-17 all-time in Game 2. At home, they are 1-1 in the bounce back games. On the road, Utah is 7-17.
After losing Game 1, Utah has went on to win the series six times, five of those series were when the team didn’t have home-court advantage.
Game 2 between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rocket is on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on TNT.
