What Utah Jazz fans should cheer for on an epic final day of NBA action

Although the Utah Jazz will most likely face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs, there are plenty of other scenarios Jazz fans can pull for on the final day of the NBA regular season.

The Western Conference playoff race this season has been about as tight as one could possibly imagine. Heading into the final day of the regular season, the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers sit at third and fourth, respectively, with 48 wins apiece.

Just behind them are the New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder all with 47 wins and last of all at 46 wins apiece are the eighth and ninth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets who will battle on Wednesday night to clinch the final playoff spot in the West.

With such a small gap separating the teams and several contests that will include these teams facing off against one another, such as the aforementioned Timberwolves-Nuggets showdown as well as Spurs-Pelicans and Jazz-Blazers, it’s easy to see why there are so many different scenarios regarding how the seeding could ultimately end up.

For a couple great illustrations of what could come of the Western Conference standings following Wednesday’s games, be sure to take a look at the pair of charts below:

If one glance at all the possibilities there was enough to make your head spin (trust me, you’re not alone), then allow me to simplify it for you somewhat. Of course, Utah Jazz fans will be cheering for their own team to earn third place in the West, which they’ll do if they just defeat the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, but let’s chat about what other results Jazz fans should be pulling for if they want the most ideal first-round matchup for their squad.

To kick that off, though, let’s just start by saying that the most likely outcome of Wednesday’s games will be that Utah and Oklahoma City face off in the first round of the playoffs. The Thunder will take on the lowly Memphis Grizzlies, who find themselves in second-to-last place in the Western Conference, and if OKC beats them, they are guaranteed to play the Utah Jazz in the first round as either the sixth seed or the fourth seed.

That game tips off at 6:00 PM MT, so it will probably be over before the Jazz and Blazers even get underway at 8:30. If the Thunder indeed win, as they very likely will, then Utah will know their first-round opponent right away. However, if the Jazz defeat Portland, they’ll have home court advantage over OKC as the three-seed. If they lose to the Blazers, they’ll cede home court advantage to the Thunder as the fifth seed.

Some Jazz fans (including myself) have been nervous about the potential matchup between the Thunder and the Jazz. However, as my J-Notes colleague Tyler Crandall illustrated on Tuesday, there are also certainly some reasons for optimism that the Jazz could actually have an edge over OKC in the series. If you prefer the Jazz facing the Thunder, then Wednesday’s slate will be pretty simple for you – just cheer for the Thunder to win and the Jazz to get home court advantage with a win over Portland.

However, if you’re wary about facing OKC like I am, then you’ll want to get on your knees and pray for a miracle that the hapless Grizzlies can pull off the road upset. On the bright side, the tanking Grizzlies are locked into their lottery position regardless of whether they win or lose, so they won’t benefit whatsoever from purposely throwing the game. In that case, perhaps Memphis’ hungry young guns come out and play spoiler.

However, if Oklahoma City loses, they’ll drop down the standings to eighth place and a first-round date with the Houston Rockets. You know without a doubt that such is a scenario they’ll be desperate to avoid. The inexperienced Grizzlies may be hungry, but I guarantee that OKC will want it even more. As much as I’d like to see Memphis come out on top to force a first-round matchup other than the Thunder for the Jazz, the reality is that it’s unlikely.

But just in case it does take place, let’s take a closer stab at what other situations Jazz fans should be pulling for. If the Thunder do happen to fall to the Grizzlies, then there are exactly eight other scenarios that could take place that could pit the Jazz against four potential opponents – the Pelicans, Nuggets, Spurs or Timberwolves.

To decide who to cheer for, you must first decide which matchup you hypothetically like better for the Jazz. I’ve been saying for weeks now that I like Utah’s chances best against New Orleans, so let’s start there, shall we? Just a reminder – all of these scenarios below require a Thunder loss to the Grizzlies, so bear that in mind while I explain who to cheer for if OKC falls.

If you’d like the Jazz to face off against the Pelicans, then you have to cheer for New Orleans to defeat the Spurs, but unfortunately you also have to cheer for the Jazz to lose to the Blazers. The outcome of the Minnesota-Denver game wouldn’t affect this matchup whatsoever. With a New Orleans victory and a Jazz loss, Utah would retain home court advantage as the four-seed over the fifth-seeded Pelicans.

Despite how hot they’ve been of late, the next matchup that I feel would be most favorable would be against the Denver Nuggets. This one’s quite simple – just cheer for the Nuggets to win and the Jazz to reach the three-seed by defeating the Blazers. The Spurs-Pelicans outcome wouldn’t affect this either way, so no need to pick a favorite there.

There’s only one scenario where Utah faces off against Minnesota, but if you enjoyed the Ricky Rubio revenge game the last time these two squads faced off and want to see it repeat itself in a playoff series, this is the one for you. You’ll want to pull for the Jazz, the Spurs and, of course, the Wolves to all win their respective contests. If that occurs, the Jazz will be the third seed against the sixth-seeded Timberwolves.

Last of all, there are three different scenarios in which the Jazz face off against the Spurs, but two of them require you to cheer for Portland to win thus dropping Utah to the four-seed. I know you don’t want to do that, so let’s just focus on the one where you can still pull for the Jazz. If you’d like to see Utah finish in third and go up against sixth-seeded San Antonio, then you’ll want to cheer for both of Minnesota and New Orleans to win.

So, have you made your decision yet? Which team or group of teams are you going to cheer for to ensure the Jazz get the matchup you most desire?

Before you spend too much time racking your brain about it, let me just remind you once again that it’s probably not all that valuable to spend a lot of time stewing over which one you’d prefer. As I mentioned, all of those scenarios require Oklahoma City to lose to the Grizzlies and while I’d love to see that happen, I’m certainly not counting on it. If OKC wins, then they’ll play Utah no matter the outcome of the Jazz-Blazers game.

And then if such is the case, your decision of who to cheer for will be pretty easy – root for the Utah Jazz to beat the Portland Trail Blazers and earn the third seed and home court advantage over the Thunder. As long as OKC beats Memphis, none of the other matchups will have any affect whatsoever on the Utah Jazz.

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Regardless of Wednesday night’s outcomes, it should be an exhilarating 2017-18 NBA finale. And no matter what comes of Utah’s final seeding, be it third, fourth or fifth place, you can be sure that they’ll be primed and ready to serve as a daunting foe to whoever they face in the first round of postseason action.