OKC Thunder: Ranking difficulty of seeding schedules for all 22 teams
15th) Jazz – Cumulative opponent win total: 286
Seeding Game Record: 3-5, locked in at sixth and will play Nuggets
- Jazz 106 – Pelicans 104(July 30)
- OKC Thunder 110 – Jazz 94 (August 1)
- Lakers 116 – Jazz 108 (August 3)
- Jazz 124 – Grizzlies 115 (August 5)
- Spurs 119 – Jazz 111 (August 7)
- Nuggets 134 – Jazz 132: 2OT (August 8)
- Mavericks 122 – Jazz 114 (August)
- Jazz 118 – Spurs 112 (August 13)
The Jazz lucked out on Thursday night via the Pelicans youth and turnovers. That match was their’s for the taking and the simply blew it. Although New Orleans looked strong in the scrimmages they failed to keep that intensity in the match that counted.
Conversely, the Jazz took advantage of their constancy and captured the win and in doing so put another half-game between themselves and the OKC Thunder (and Rockets).
Depending on what occurs with the Lakers and Raptors on Saturday it could also affect the Jazz match on Monday. If the Lakers lose to Toronto they’ll be more invested in winning to cement the top seed in the West.
In fact, although the Jazz has one of the easier strength of schedules virtually every team has a specific objective and reason to be motivated to beat Utah.
I’m not sure how invested the Spurs are in challenging for the ninth seed but if they’re committed that’s not great news for Utah since they play San Antonio twice.
Likewise, the Grizzlies need to try to distance themselves from the chase pack. Similarly, Denver and Dallas are each seeking to move up.