Last day of the NBA regular season: So who do Utah Jazz fans cheer for now?

If the Utah Jazz hope to avoid the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, they’ll need one of two potential underdogs to come through.

Well, just yesterday I detailed all the crazy things that had to happen for the Utah Jazz to end up in the absolutely ideal playoff position. And guess what? A lot of it actually took place! Oh, except for the whole part with the Jazz losing and potentially dropping to sixth place. Whoops!

All it took was one misstep, and now the ‘perfect situation’ is thwarted, meaning that Utah’s odds of playing the Houston Rockets in the first round are looking pretty dang good. And if you’ve been paying attention at all this season, you’ll know that’s not a good thing. The most recent loss to OKC not withstanding, the Rockets are playing incredibly of late and they present a terrible matchup for the Jazz.

Nevertheless, even though it threw off the ultimate favorable situation, I’m still glad the Jazz earned a big-time, confidence-building win over the Denver Nuggets. Such a victory will be a nice momentum producer heading into the postseason.

Even so, playing the Rockets is still far from ideal and what looked like a more likely matchup – against the Portland Trail Blazers – would still be optimal for the Jazz. Fortunately, it can still happen that way, and I’m here to break down just how and who Utah Jazz fans should be cheering for tomorrow if they want the most preferable first-round matchup.

First off, Utah’s fate as the fifth seed is already sealed. By defeating Denver, they distanced themselves such that the Oklahoma City Thunder can’t catch them. And with Portland defeating the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah can’t catch the Blazers either. In other words, Utah’s final game against the LA Clippers is absolutely inconsequential for them. They’ll be the fifth seed regardless. Who they play in the first round is now completely out of their hands.

As such, the Jazz may err on the side of caution on Wednesday, especially with it being on the back end of a back-to-back and since they already reached the 50-win mark. We’ll see if anyone rests or if the Jazz cut minutes down considering that a win would buy them nothing and a loss wouldn’t hurt them.

On a side note, the one positive that could come out of Utah losing to the Clippers is that if the San Antonio Spurs also win while the Thunder lose to the Milwaukee Bucks, then OKC would drop to the eighth seed wherein they could give the Golden State Warriors a heck of a fight in the first round. That’s a whole other story, though, so let’s get back to the Jazz and who Utah fans should be cheering for on the final day of the NBA regular season.

Houston is done after choking away their final game of the season in OKC on Tuesday, so they, like the Jazz, have no more control over their fate. The two teams that matter and could impact the Jazz are the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers. Both games tip-off at the same time, so it will be interesting and intense to follow them as they unfold.

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The situation with the Blazers is the simplest, so let’s start there. If Portland loses, they simply remain as the fourth seed – easy as that. They’ll end the year with 52 wins which will be just shy of the 53-mark set by the Rockets and the 53 or potentially 54-mark set by the Nuggets. In other words, if you want to play it safe and keep things easy, just cheer for Sacramento tomorrow. It’s as cut and dry as that.

And although the Kings are eliminated from playoff contention, don’t count them out in this contest. They’ve been a relentlessly scrappy squad all season long and likely will want to finish the year out on a high to set a tone for what they hope will be a better year next season where they finally get over the playoff hump.

Not only that, but it’s the second night of a back-to-back for Portland, so tired legs could play a factor. Lastly, there is some speculation that if Oklahoma City wins tomorrow to seal the sixth seed (their game will be ending right about when the Jazz-Clippers, Blazers-Kings and Nuggets-Timberwolves games start), the Blazers may secretly opt to avoid the third seed entirely and instead look to play the Jazz in the first round instead of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and the dangerous Thunder.

I don’t buy that theory one bit, especially since the four-seed would put them in the unfavorable spot of being on the same side of the bracket as the Warriors, and the Blazers certainly realize that the Jazz are just as dangerous in the playoffs as OKC, so don’t get your hopes up that Portland just rolls over. It’s not likely to happen. Still, cheering for Sacramento to pull it off is a worthy cause that isn’t totally implausible.

If you’re satisfied with that, then I suggest you stop reading now. However, if you want to get really wacky, there’s actually another way that the Blazers can finish fourth and face the Jazz in the first round even if they defeat the Kings. All this would take is for the Denver Nuggets to lose to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

I know, yet again we’re cheering for a lottery-bound team with little to play for to defeat a staunch playoff team, but hey, stranger things have happened. Not to mention, it will be a back-to-back for both teams, so the result is anyone’s guess. Unfortunately it is on the Nuggets’ home court where they’ve been impeccable this season, so don’t get too excited.

Essentially the scenario here is that if Portland wins and Denver loses, each of the the Blazers, Nuggets and Rockets will be tied at a record of 53-29. By way of tiebreaker, Houston, as the sole possessor of the Southwest Division title and as the team with the best record against the teams in the three-way tie (4-3), would rise to second place. Meanwhile, Denver with a record of 4-4 against the Blazers and Rockets would fall to three and Portland (3-4) would remain in fourth.

In other words, if the Timberwolves pull off the upset, Portland’s game becomes inconsequential as well. With a Minnesota win, a Portland win would mean that the Blazers stay in fourth due to the short end of the stick in the three-way tiebreaker. A Portland loss would simply mean what it meant in the first place – one less win than the Rockets and Nuggets, keeping them in fourth place.

So, Jazz fans, cheer for the Kings all you want as we may need that if Minnesota falls through. But for a sure bet, cheer your hearts out for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their victory would ensure that the Jazz play the Trail Blazers in the first round instead of the horrible matchup that would be the Houston Rockets.

Unfortunately, as nice as this outcome would be, I’m not banking on it. Neither Sacramento nor Minnesota is known for coming up clutch and both Denver and Portland have a lot to play for. Denver has a shot at the two-seed providing them home court advantage through the second round and Portland has a shot at the three-seed which would put them in the bracket opposite the Golden State Warriors.

Not only that, but I’m certain both Portland and Denver would prefer to play one another in a potential round two than to alternatively go up against Houston. As much as it pains me to say it, I’m predicting both Minnesota and Sacramento to lose, and therefore that the Jazz will open up the first round of the NBA playoffs as the fifth seed against the fourth-seeded Houston Rockets in the Toyota Center.

And while I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, from there I don’t like Utah’s odds of advancing to the second round at all. Houston is a better team than their current record or latest choke indicates. And they’re not a team that bodes well for Utah’s chances.

If Minnesota and/or Sacramento fail to come through on Wednesday night, it’s unlikely that the Jazz will be able to continue their streak of consecutive second-round appearances in 2018-19.