Are the Utah Jazz stuck where they’re at in the standings?
Currently, Basketball-Reference sees a 67.0 percent chance of the Utah Jazz (38-22) ending up as the No. 4 seed from the Western Conference, which matches where the team sits in the standings.
They have a 19.2 percent chance of snagging the West’s No. 3 seed and only a 4.0 percent chance of coming in at No. 2. On the flip side, there’s an 8.4 percent chance they fall to No. 5 and a 1.4 percent chance they slide to No. 6 before it’s all said and done.
Predicting where the Utah Jazz wind up
Utah trails the Memphis Grizzlies (43-20) by 3.5 games, the Golden State Warriors (43-18) by 4.5 games, and the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns (49-12) by 10.5 games.
With only 22 games remaining for the Jazz in the regular season, it’s all but out of the question for the franchise to repeat as the West’s regular-season champs. To that point, Basketball-Reference does not even list it as a possibility; the same goes for their “nonexistent” chances of dipping below the No. 6 seed.
But a No. 2 seed, securing homecourt advantage for at least the first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs, is within reach. It’s especially so when noting Utah’s clean bill of health at the moment and this latest 8-1 stretch, including wins over the Warriors and Suns plus the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets (tied for No. 5 in the West at 36-25 apiece, 2.5 games back of the Jazz).
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What if 2022 All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert hadn’t missed a combined 23 games from the first week of January through the second week of February, a stretch that saw the Jazz pile on a dozen losses? Well, this team would likely be on par with the Warriors and Grizzlies in the standings right now.
That said, like the Jazz, the Grizzlies have won eight of their past 10. And despite the Warriors going 5-5 across their past 10, it’s safe to assume they will improve as Klay Thompson finds his groove after returning less than two months ago from a 30-month injury absence.
Memphis has one of the league’s easiest remaining schedules, at least when only factoring in opponents’ winning percentages. Golden State has one of the NBA’s toughest final slates on tap. And Utah sits near the middle of the pack.
Prediction: Utah makes up a bit of ground on both Golden State and Memphis but enters the 2022 NBA Playoffs as the No. 4 seed just the same.
The Utah Jazz’s next outing is at 6 p.m. MT Wednesday, a road game against the West cellar-dweller Houston Rockets (15-45).
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