Utah Jazz: Pros and cons of the first-round series against OKC

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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – APRIL 21: The Utah Jazz celebrate during the game against the LA Clippers during Game Three of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2017 NBA Playoffs on April 21, 2017 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Pros:

Jazz have been in this situation before

You’ve certainly heard the mantra that history repeats itself, right? Well then, I have some great news for you. This year’s series between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder mirrors last season’s showdown between the Jazz and LA Clippers in a number of ways.

Allow me to explain —

First of all, the obvious is that once again the Utah Jazz are the five-seed whereas their opponent is the four-seed and has home court advantage. Sound familiar? Such was the case last season as Utah was five and LA was four. Not only that, but last season both teams finished with the same record (51-31) and the Clippers only got the higher seed by merit of a tiebreaker. Same story this year – both Utah and OKC are 48-34.

If we’re really going down irony lane, the Clippers also won the regular season series 3-1 last year, just as OKC did this year, but more on that later.

Furthermore, just like last year’s Clippers squad boasted a star-studded roster that included Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, the Thunder are loaded with stars in the likes of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. That abundance of star power made LA the heavy favorites, just like OKC is in the eyes of most national media members and casual observers as well.

My point with all this? Just as I said, history is known to repeat itself and the Jazz find themselves in a very similar situation to last season. If they were able to overcome what was a bad regular season matchup, a star-studded opposing roster and failing to earn home court advantage last year, there’s no reason why this similarly talented team can’t do the same once again.

And particularly after you see the rest of these pros, I think you’ll see just why.

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