The Utah Jazz and the rest of their Northwest Division foes are likely to remain in their same spot in the standings as just a handful of games remain in the 2016-17 regular season.
With a mere week and a half remaining in the 2016-17 NBA regular season, there’s a lot to be excited about league wide. Several teams are thinking playoff push while others have accepted their lottery fate and will likely begin winding down in preparation for what they hope will be better years ahead.
In the Northwest Division, which has been a thrilling division to follow all season long, the Minnesota Timberwolves are the first to find themselves eliminated from playoff contention. In some ways it was a disappointing season for the Wolves, but in other ways their youth and potential showed a lot of promise.
One other team from the division will join the Wolves while another will find itself in the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. For the majority of the season it looked like Denver would claim that spot, but Portland’s recent surge has them looking like the likely playoff squad that will ultimately send the Nuggets back to the lottery yet again.
Utah Jazz Week Twenty-Four Outlook, Predictions https://t.co/TZnfOAeGkj #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/hgqfmVlla0
— The J-Notes (@TheJNotes) April 3, 2017
Then there’s the Thunder and Jazz, the former of which was beginning to look like a threat to surpass Utah for the division title in mid-March, but a recent downturn has made their chances look pretty bleak as they trail Utah by 3.5 games with just six left to play. However, Utah has a tough stretch to close out the season, so they most certainly will have their work cut out for them if they hope to claim the Northwest Division title.
With a thrilling month of March now well behind us and the playoffs just around the corner, here’s a look at what Utah and the rest of their division foes has to look forward to in the month of April as well as predictions as to how the final standings will play out.