Five Things the Utah Jazz Need to Make the Playoffs

Count on an Opponent Slide

While this might be partly out of the Jazz’s control, in reality, they will need to hope that at least one of the eight Western Conference teams who qualified for the playoffs this past year takes a significant enough step backwards to help create space for the Jazz, who finished just one spot out of the mix.

They can help ensure this by taking care of business in key match-ups against divisional foes and playoff contending conference foes such as the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies.

These squads seem to be the prime candidates when looking for teams that could potentially slide backwards, while the Jazz inch their way in. Dwight Howard will likely be out of Houston and the team will have to adjust to a new system under head coach Mike D’Antoni. The Dallas Mavericks aren’t getting any younger.

Then there’s the Grizzlies who, not only will be overseen by new head coach David Fizdale, but face an offseason filled with question marks.

However, even if one of these teams slides, the Jazz still have to be wary of the up and coming Minnesota Timberwolves or even the talented Sacramento Kings, who seem to be one solid attitude change away from actually being competitive.

While the Jazz will likely need a team to slip, they can’t make the same mistake they did this past year and count on other teams (such as the Rockets) to choke away their playoff chances. The Jazz have to take care of business in key games and make sure they play an instrumental role in some unfortunate foe’s slip out of the playoff mix.

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