The Portland Trail Blazers play host to the Utah Jazz at Moda Center on Wednesday.

The Jazz had an epic series with the Denver Nuggets in last season's playoffs but a missed three by Mike Conley sent them home in Game 7. Donovan Mitchell did have a breakout series though, dropping 50 points twice while averaging well over 30 points per game. Fans are just hopeful that he can continue that form coming into this year while also getting Bojan Bogdanovic back from his hand injury. He's one of the most valuable players on this team with his sharpshooting and it was nice to see Conley play much better in the second half too. The key is Rudy Gobert and his rim-protecting ways though and that's why the Jazz inked him to a long-term deal on Monday. That makes up the starting five for this scary team and it's certainly a club to watch in what's one of the deepest Western Conferences we've ever seen.

The Trail Blazers made an amazing run in the bubble to sneak into the postseason but were quickly exposed by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. Where they really struggled last season was on the defensive end of the floor and they definitely plugged those holes in the offseason. In fact, they added Derrick Jones Jr and Robert Covington, giving this team a much-needed presence on the defensive end. It also fills their wing slots which have been a weakness for this club in recent years. That takes a little bit of the honus off of C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, adding to their value on the offensive end which is where they're two of the most dangerous threats in the world.

In their three meetings last season, Utah won two of three with the home team prevailing all three matchups. Prior to that, these clubs split their season series in each of the last three years.