Postseason push: Will the Utah Jazz make the playoffs?
With a little more than a month to go in the NBA regular season, we take a look at the teams fighting for their playoff lives.
Record: 29-35
Standing: No. 9 in Western Conference
Will make postseason if: Houston helps out.
The Jazz are in a funk, plain and simple. Since the All-Star break, the team that once posed a legitimate threat for their first playoff appearance in four years has gone 3-9, trailing only the 0-11 Philadelphia 76ers for worst post All-Star break record in the league. During that span, the Jazz have been the NBA's worst offense statistically, putting up just 96.9 points per game (30th) on 43.7% shooting (29th).
The Houston Rockets currently hold the eighth-place spot in the West with a 32-32 record, three games ahead of Utah. Even if the Jazz can manage to climb out of the hole they have dug themselves, they still need plenty of help from the Rockets, who — despite problems of their own — are in the drivers seat.
Will miss postseason if: Nothing changes.
Utah's postseason window is closing, and it's closing quickly. Whether it has been their offensive lull, defensive decline or continued backcourt struggles, the Jazz haven't looked like a playoff team over the past dozen games and are limping into the most important stretch of the season.
Point guard Trey Burke spoke on his team's struggles, per the Deseret News:
“I don’t think it’s just one area as to why we’re struggling,” he said. "I think in general we have to find that same edge that we had going into the All-Star break. We’re watching film, we know what we’re doing wrong. It starts really on the defensive end, communicating, and I think it’s just time for us to stop talking and just get it done. Obviously this is a tough game (vs. Washington on Friday), but we’ve still got 18 more games left so there’s still hope.”
Hope? Sure. Likelihood? Not so much.
Wild card: Defense.
As Burke said, it all starts with defense. Led by the frontcourt trio of Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert, the Jazz have spent the majority of the season doing what they do best: playing defense. In their 52 games before the break, they were one of the NBA's top defensive teams, allowing just 96.4 points per game (ranked third) on 44.6% shooting (t-14th). Gobert and Favors controlled the interior better than most, allowing a second-ranked 38.3 points in the paint per game that trailed only the Memphis Grizzlies. Since the All-Star break, things have taken a turn for the worse. Utah has allowed opponents to score 101.4 points per game (t-9th) on 45.9% shooting (16th), while Gobert and Favors have allowed 47.2 points in the paint per game (22nd).
Defense wins championships and, in Utah's case, it could be the difference between a playoff spot or yet another season cut short at 82 games.
Our next team up: Indiana Pacers.
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