ESPN’s Marc Stein released his latest NBA Power Rankings and the Utah Jazz came in at the No. 8 spot.

Of the Jazz, he wrote, “If you believe in the value of nightly average point margin when it comes to measuring a team’s strength, Utah deserves its status as the current holder of the last home-court advantage playoff spot in the West, thanks to a reading of plus-4.1 that ranks sixth in the league overall.”

The Jazz were one spot higher, coming in at No. 7 in John Schuhmann’s NBA.com Power Rankings.

After talking about Rodney Hood’s injury, Schuhmann wrote, “Gordon Hayward is healthy and scored 60 points on 64 percent shooting as the Jazz took care of business against the struggling Bucks and Hornets last week. Joe Johnson also awoke from a slumber and the pair combined with George Hill for a 22-4, fourth-quarter run that turned a 10-point deficit into a seven-point win against Charlotte on Saturday.”

Rudy Gobert’s game analyzed in Prodigies Series

Jake Rauchbach took a look at the strengths and weaknesses in Rudy Gobert’s game in the latest installment of Basketball Insiders’ Prodigy Series.

After touching on the play of Anthony Davis — who was also looked at — Rauchbach wrote, “Gobert is a quintessential energy guy whose defense, rebounding and high field goal percentage have been a major asset for the Jazz this season.”

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