How the Utah Jazz might avoid ‘death lineup’ of playoff teams
By Daniel Olsen
Utah Jazz’s potential third playoff opponent: Los Angeles Clippers
It’s true that the Los Angeles Clippers must have some sort of curse. After all, they have never even made it to the Western Conference Finals in the franchise’s history. They’ve even held a 3-1 lead twice in the second round of the playoffs before blowing those leads.
This year, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George seem destined to finally break that drought. After all, their new head coach, Ty Lue, coached a Cleveland Cavaliers team that erased a 52-year title drought in the city of Cleveland that spanned all sports.
Expect the Clippers to find a way to get to the Western Conference Finals. Ideally, the Jazz would not have to play either LA team until this point.
How crazy would it be to see a first-round matchup between the No. 4 seed Clippers versus the No. 5 seed Lakers? It would be insane. In this case, the Jazz would be better off letting the Suns have the top seed and thereby play the Denver Nuggets again; this time, the Nuggets wouldn’t have Jamal Murray (torn ACL).
This matchup with the Clippers would be tough. Utah won the season series, 2-1. However, it might be a different case with a playoff atmosphere and both teams fully healthy. The Jazz could win this postseason series, but it might be the hardest matchup for them of any team in the West.