Gordon Hayward #20 of the Utah Jazz and Al Jefferson #25 could carry the team into the playoffs. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
The Utah Jazz aren’t out of the race yet. While the Los Angeles Lakers are currently one game ahead of them in the eighth spot in the West, the Jazz have a schedule that could propel them ahead of the Lakers. Not only do they have the better schedule, they have one more thing working on their side: a tiebreaker over the Lakers.
The Jazz were swept out of the playoffs last year by the San Antonio Spurs — a team they might face again in the first round if they capture the eighth spot. Though a similar fate would be in the cards for the Jazz this postseason, they’re still hoping for another crack at it. And as compared with the Lakers, who play three playoff-bound teams to finish the season, all of whom have something to play for, the Jazz are facing less serious opposition.
The Jazz have a home and away set against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday (home) and Monday (away). The Timberwolves are in the midst of another losing season; they lost big man Kevin Love for the rest of the season. And their point guard Ricky Rubio, while playing well now, missed most of the first half of the season. At 29-49, the T’Wolves do have one thing to play for — the lowest possible seed in order to get a higher chance of moving up in the draft lottery. Prediction: The Jazz can, and likely will take both of these games.
The Jazz finish their season on the road against a playoff-bound team in the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies seem to be locked in place with the four or five seed — either seed will see them face the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. The Grizzlies have been beat up lately with injuries to their big man Marc Gasol and a few other key role players. Being the last game of the season, it is likely that the Clippers and Grizzlies will have situated themselves in the standings — and the Grizzlies are certainly a team primed for resting their entire starting lineup. This could be an easy one for the Jazz to steal, even on the road against a good team. Prediction: Jazz win.
With the Lakers facing a much more difficult schedule over the final three games, likely losing at least one or two, the Jazz could really swing back into the eighth spot. The only way the Lakers can control their destiny is by winning out, which is unlikely. Even if the Lakers win two out of three, the Jazz could tie them by winning out and would advance to the playoffs by virtue of the regular season head-to-head matchup tiebreaker in which the Jazz won two out of three.
There isn’t much hope for either the Lakers or the Jazz to advance beyond the first round, but making the playoffs is always the goal. The Jazz have a good balance of youth and veteran presence and are a deep squad. Their chances, while still very weak, are arguably better than the Lakers facing up against the number-on seed in the playoffs.
