NBA 2K: How would the Utah Jazz have finished the regular season?

Western Conference Standings

1. Los Angeles Lakers……………. 64-18
2. Los Angeles Clippers………….. 57-25
3. Denver Nuggets………………… 54-28
4. Oklahoma City Thunder……… 54-28
5. Houston Rockets……………….. 53-29
6. Utah Jazz……………………………. 53-29
7. Dallas Mavericks…………………. 51-31
8. Memphis Grizzlies………………. 42-40
9. Portland Trail-Blazers…………. 38-44
10. New Orleans Pelicans…………. 37-45

Here is how the Western Conference shook out with the final 18-20 games being played for each team. The two teams from Los Angeles comfortably secured the top two seeds in the conference, and a battle in the conference finals seems inevitable at this point.

Then log-jammed just within a single game of each other are seeds 3-6. The Denver Nuggets tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the Northwest division, and the third seed.

They also tied their four game season series at two games apiece. Therefore the tie-breaker came via division record, which the Nuggets won by a landslide. The went 13-3 against their inner-division rivals, whereas the Thunder went 10-6.

The biggest shocker of this stretch run in my opinion was the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were unstoppable in their final 18 games, winning 14 of them and securing home court advantage in the playoffs against all odds.

Most NBA experts didn’t think this team would be above .500 this season, which really speaks to the value of Chris Paul despite his 34 year old body getting older by the minute. The only team that played better during the stretch run was the Los Angeles Lakers, who went 15-4.

The exciting battle for the last playoff seed in the West and the Rookie of the Year crown goes to Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. As for Zion Williamson and the Pelicans, they squandered too many winnable games during the home stretch and fell to 10th place.

The Utah Jazz were just a couple of wins away from securing that elusive top-3 seed, but were actually given a blessing in disguise. They get to play the Denver Nuggets in the first round, a much more preferable match-up than the Houston Rockets.

The Nuggets were a great team at home this season, going 25-8 in real life before the hiatus and 6-2 in the NBA 2K simulation. Quin Snyder and his team will have their hands full as they try to steal a game or two in Pepsi Center and come off with the series upset.

Although it’s not a real life scenario, I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise. It rekindled my excitement of what the NBA holds once basketball does return again, whether that happens this summer or late this fall.