The Spurs won again last night, stretching their win streak to 11. Obviously, if the Jazz are going to pass the Spurs for the 3rd seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Spurs are going to have to lose.
I mentioned on Wednesday, that the Jazz could quite conceivably go 9-1 in their next ten games before heading to San Antonio for the showdown of the season. But with the way San Antonio is playing, if the Jazz go 9-1 they could lose a game in the standings to the Spurs, who have an incredibly easy schedule coming up.
In their next nine games, the Spurs play the Nets, Clippers, Celtics, Pacers, Pistons and Hornets at home and the Bucks, Sonics and Warriors on the road. The Spurs could easily win all nine of those contests as the Pistons are the only team on that list that is going to the playoffs.
It is not over, but it doesn’t look promising either. Jazz fans may have to get used to the idea of playing the Rockets in the opening round.
March 9th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Good points.
March 9th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Frankly, I’d rather have the Jazz playing the Rockets than the Lakers. Less pressure for the young guys on the Jazz, as they won’t be stuck playing against Kobe and the media and the celebrity hype that is LA in the playoffs. Best case scenario IMHO would be Jazz beating out the Spurs for the three seed, and then having the Lakers drop down to the seventh or eight seed, leaving the Jazz with a first round matchup against the Clips or Nugs and then Phoenix, who we’ve swept this year, in round 2.
March 10th, 2007 at 2:59 am
Tough call….
The Lakers are on a slide at the moment, but considering their injuries it is not all that surprising. Against the Sixers they only had 9 guys on the floor in total. They will almost certainly lose their next game away to Dallas, but then we have an interesting matchup when they take on Denver. The rest of March is filled with games that they technically should be able to win, at least until they take on Houston.
Having said that, I honestly can’t see either the Nuggets or the Clipppers overtaking them, those teams don’t deserve to be in the playoffs!
As McSean has said, it is going to be very tough for the Jazz to take third place. The Spurs have looked a little shaky at times in their last few games, but have managed to hold on and take the wins, the sign of a really strong team. They may be due for a loss sometime soon, but it will be next to impossible for Utah to go the next 10 games with a better record than the Spurs, barring a season ending injury for Tim Duncan.
Also, don’t by any means count the Suns out against the Jazz. If we do get a shot at playing them, they will be a tougher team than anyone but the Mavs to beat and with home court advantage they will still be the favourite.
Bottom line, Jazz need to finish third to open up the possibility of a strong playoff run, but bring on the Lakers in the first round. It will be a great match up and will give them the tough playoff experience they are going to need if they are going to make the step up to a genuine contender in the next few years.
March 10th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I think it all depends on whether or not Lamar Odom is back for the playoffs. That dude is sick and gives the Jazz a lot problems.