Look ahead: Who should the Utah Jazz be hoping to face in the playoffs?

The NBA playoffs are still two months away, but the Utah Jazz should be keeping an eye on these teams in the standings for a potential playoff match-up in their favor.

The Utah Jazz have been keeping an eye on the playoff race all season long. They should, as it is the most important part of the year for them.

This year’s playoffs will be something different than what we were accustomed to for the better part of the past decade. More likely than not, the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors will both be watching the postseason from the comfort of their sofas.

The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers will make it back to the postseason for the first time in years. Their squads look a lot different than the previous playoff squads led by Hall of Famers Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant.

As for the Utah Jazz, they are trying not to get lost in the stampede of Western Conference teams vying for a top four seed. They know they are capable of beating both good and bad teams, but many (including myself) fear that much of their playoff success will depend on their seeding.

Former site expert Jared Woodcox emphasized the importance of earning a top three seed in the conference. This would give the Jazz home court advantage through the first and possibly second rounds, and help them avoid the top team in the West until the Western Conference Finals.

As an example of what happens when you don’t get a favorable seed and/or match-up, look no further than last year. The Jazz ran into the Houston Rockets in the first round, and while the Jazz did an admirable job defending James Harden with his lob/floater double threat, they couldn’t keep up offensively.

Meanwhile, the Portland Trail-Blazers trotted out their thin team to the Conference Finals thanks to favorable seeding and match-ups. In my opinion, the Jazz weren’t that much worse than the Portland Trail-Blazers than the playoff record implies.

Having said that, we now have a decent sample size against every Western Conference team, including the ones headed for the playoffs. Let’s analyze which ones Jazz fans should be rooting for to collide with our team in the postseason.