Who Should Utah Jazz Fans Cheer For to Earn the Eighth Seed?

In order to create the best chance for a favorable playoff scenario for the Utah Jazz, which Western Conference team should Jazz fans hope finally claims the eighth seed?

Although there’s still plenty that could happen between now and the end of the NBA season, as the old saying goes, there’s no time like the present to speculate about NBA Playoffs scenarios.

OK, so I may have taken some creative liberty on an old classic, but you get the idea.

If the playoffs were to start today, the Jazz who sit in fourth place by the skin of their teeth would have home court advantage in the first round and would take on the Los Angeles Clippers. While that wouldn’t exactly be the ideal match-up for them given their struggles against LA in recent years, as long as the Jazz pull off home court, they’ll have as good a chance as anyone to advance to the second round.

Unfortunately, as the fourth seed, the Jazz would then have the daunting task of taking on the Golden State Warriors, who just last night clinched a playoff bid, in the second round. I suppose the optimist would look at this and say, “Might as well get them out of the way early!” but for the rest of us, I think we’d all prefer if Utah could put off that match-up for as long as possible, adding another round to slightly increase the chances of a miraculous upset.

Of course, with how tough Utah’s schedule is to end the season, it’s not outside the realm of possibilities that they slide to the sixth or seventh seed which would situate them in the bracket so that they hypothetically wouldn’t face Golden State until the Western Conference Finals. But for these intents and purposes, let’s just assume that the standings as they are now are going to stay pat.

With exception, of course, to the team we’ll be observing, which is that eighth seed.

Now, it’s important to remember that eight-seeds beating the top seed is a wholly rare occurrence. Since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in the 1983-84 season, it has only happened five times with the most recent taking place in 2012 when the Philadelphia 76ers upset the Chicago Bulls after Derrick Rose went down in Game 1 with a torn ACL.

And while any eight-seed upset would be a miraculous one, perhaps none would be as shocking as one over this year’s historically good Golden State Warriors. Therefore, regardless of which team actually sneaks in and grabs that final Western Conference playoff spot, I’m fully aware that there is an infinitesimal chance that the Warriors are toppled in the first round.

Nevertheless, what is sports without foolish hopes? So if Jazz fans hope to avoid a date with the Golden State Warriors in the second round, they better hope that the team with the highest chance of pulling off an upset (a small chance though it may be), or at least of wearing down and challenging the Warriors so that they’re a bit fatigued heading into the second round, is the one that wins.

Don’t forget, the Jazz benefited from a similar situation back in 2007 when the then eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors led by Baron Davis toppled the then powerhouse top-seeded Dallas Mavericks. Despite their inconsistencies, that Warriors team happened to match up very well against the elite Mavs, but ended up no match for a formidable Jazz team that after dispatching the Rockets made light work of the Warriors to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

And finding that potential miracle match-up will be what Jazz fans need to hope for in order for there to be any chance of an unforeseen upset sending the Warriors packing. So without further ado, here’s a look at the teams vying for that eighth seed and how they would potentially fare.