Here to provide the DC Council Opening Statements for Washington’s eighth game of the season against the Jazz in Washington are TAI’s Rashad Mobley (@Rashad20) and guest Spencer Ryan Hall (@saltcityhoops), who writes about the Jazz for the TrueHoop blog Salt City Hoops.

Wizards Starters (0-7):

A.J. Price, Jordan Crawford, Trevor Ariza, Jan Vesely & Emeka Okafor

Jazz Starters (4-6):

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If part of the court was painted in Salt Lake City on Friday night, the Utah Jazz dominated it. Ted Leonsis’ plan is probably envious of the post toughness that populates Utah’s roster. Bigs Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, starters, along with Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter off the bench combined for 65 points and 32 rebounds, Jefferson leading with way with 34 and 12. When it was over, the Jazz had 70 points in the paint in their 114-100 win over the Wizards. Washington countered with 44.

JaVale McGee, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin and Jan Vesely combined for 35 points and 18 rebounds. McGee had 15 and six with three blocks, but only really proved that his sheer athleticism is easier to contain than Jefferson’s skill. Booker was relatively invisible in 26 minutes with four points, four rebounds and two steals. Seraphin was completely lost. He checked in for McGee with 6:28 left in the second quarter, 38 seconds later Utah called timeout to insert Jefferson back in the game. Big Al scored eight points in 104 seconds against a helpless Seraphin. Vesely was Washington’s most competent big with hustle, 10 points on 5-7 FGs, five rebounds a nice assist and a steal, but he also had a couple horrible turnovers, passing to spots without teammates.

From the start, the Wizards chose to be a jump-shooting team. Only six of their 20 attempts in the first quarter came in the paint. Utah packed it in and dared Washington to shoot, and they did, going 5-14 on attempts outside of the paint. The Wizards started the night 5-5 on field-goals but finished 4-15 over the rest of the period. John Wall and Co. couldn’t get out in transition either, scoring just one fastbreak point on one attempt in the opening quarter. Utah scored 24 points on 12-17 paint attempts in the first 12 minutes. Al Jefferson had 10 points in the quarter as his Jazz jumped to a 32-20 lead. They never looked back.

The Jazz punished the Wizards in the paint further in the second quarter, outscoring them 18-10, 12 courtesy of Jefferson, who scored 16 total in the period. Jefferson tallied 26 first half points, only eight in the second half as Utah was able to spread the ball around on offense  more. By my calculations, 18 of Jefferson’s points in the game were the fault of McGee, 10 came against Seraphin, four were on Booker, and one point each was the responsibility of Singleton and Vesely.

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The Washington Wizards are in Salt Lake City tonight. The Jazz, having lost games to New Orleans and Oklahoma City on consecutive nights, will try to avoid a third straight loss at the hands of the Wizards. Washington is looking to bounce back after a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday to stay above .500 on a five-game road West Coast road swing. For tonight’s 3-on-3, Hardwood Paroxysm’s Clint Peterson (@Clintonite33) joins TAI’s Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) and, yours truly, John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend). Three questions, three answers starts now … Get it on!

#1) In the last 25 games in Utah, Washington is 6-19 but has won 3 out of last 7, which includes last season’s 100-95 OT victory. The Jazz are 11-5 at home while Wizards are 3-11 on the road. The Wizards had a non travel day off in Salt Lake City on Thursday and Jazz have not played since Tuesday so both teams should be well rested. Vegas has Utah favored by 10 points. Can the Wizards cover the spread or win straight up and why?

CLINT PETERSON: They sure could cover, maybe even win. The Jazz may be rested, but this is when they tend to come out rusty. On two days rest Utah is scoring only 96.3 points per game (PPG), their second-worst stat split in the category, while the Wiz are dropping nearly 101 PPG on the road this season. Throw in various matchup problems from the athletic JaVale McGee to the stretch of Rashard Lewis to the prolific Nick Young to the fact that opposing point guards have been laying waste to the Jazz’s backcourt and Washington matching their road winning record to their home one, at four, would be little surprise to the realist.

JOHN CONVERSE TOWNSEND: February hasn’t been kind to the Utah Jazz, who have dropped to .500 after losing seven of their last nine games this month, after beginning the season 12-7. It’s been the opposite story for the resurgent Wizards—too generous?—who have won three of their last six, one win short of their total for the rest of the season (four), and are looking more like a professional basketball team with each passing day. I expect the Wizards to cover the spread, but I’d have to hedge my bets before picking the road team to win in Utah.

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The New Jersey Nets had a road record of 3-16 going into last night’s game against Washington, and although that is not quite as bad as the 0-17 road record the Wizards are sporting, it still is not something to be proud of at all. Avery Johnson might not have been able to coach his team to a successful road record, but prior to the game, he laid out a blueprint on how it could be done:

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