NBA Halloween: Playing trick-or-treat with each team’s early season trend

Utah Jazz

Mike Conley is washed: Trick

The Utah Jazz have the most wins in the West (four), but their success has been built on the back of the NBA’s stingiest defense, holding opponents to 93.0 points per 100 possessions through five games. However, aside from an alarmingly impotent offense (ranked 25th), the biggest area of concern stems from Mike Conley, the offseason addition that was supposed to put this team over the top.

Through four games, the 32-year-old vet looked absolutely washed up, averaging 7.8 points, 4.3 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game, shooting a ghastly 20 percent from the floor and 15 percent from 3-point range. He had been outplayed by Jevon Carter against the Suns, shot 1-for-16 in his Jazz debut and overall, looked like a shell of his former self.

However, even before Conley bounced back with 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting in a win over the Clippers Wednesday night, this was still firmly in the “trick” category. Conley has been too good for too long to play like this all season, so even though he’s clearly no longer in his prime, expect him to shake off these early doldrums and contribute to a legitimate contender in Salt Lake City.