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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz had their best week of the season last week, finishing with a blemish-free 3-0 record — beating all three playoff teams on the schedule — before falling to New Orleans Monday night.
As a result, Donovan Mitchell was named Western Conference player of the week, averaging 34 points, five rebounds, and five assists along the way, including a career-high 46-point outing against Milwaukee. Mitchell became the first player since Carlos Boozer to win the player of the week award twice in one season — Boozer last did it for the Jazz in the 2009-10 season.
Now, as a result of last week’s perfect record, the Jazz have set themselves up for a huge ending to the season. In a Western Conference that figures to see its playoff seedings separated by just a few games at the end of the year, the Jazz winning three straight games could radically change their playoff position by mid-April.
Over the final 19 games of the season, the Jazz face just four teams that would make the playoffs if the postseason started today.
The Jazz face the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 11, the Brooklyn Nets on March 16, then close out the season against the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers on April 9 and 10, respectively. The Jazz are 6-4 against those teams so far this season, and three of the final four games are at home.
Of the other 15 games the Jazz play, nine are against the league’s seven worst teams, including three matchups with the league’s worst team: the Phoenix Suns.
Suddenly, with such a favorable remaining schedule, the Jazz can realistically start entertaining the idea of a first-round matchup with home court advantage. Currently, the Jazz sit in the sixth spot in the West, with just three games separating them from both the fifth-seeded Thunder and fourth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers.
The Thunder have the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the NBA, with 13 of their final 19 games against current playoff teams. Portland has the 23rd toughest schedule remaining, facing nine playoff teams over their final 19 games.
The current playoff projection models now have the Jazz, at worst, finishing with the fifth seed. FiveThirtyEight says the Jazz will start the playoffs on the road at Portland, and CBS Sports has the Jazz on the road against Houston. ESPN predicts the Jazz will start the playoffs as a No. 4 seed against the Houston Rockets, while Basketball Reference has the Jazz in a rematch with the Thunder, this time starting the series in Salt Lake City.
With Mitchell playing at a career-high level, the Jazz found themselves competing with, and beating, the best teams in the league, and are now set up to improve their playoff positioning. With 19 games left in the regular season, and just four games against potential playoff teams, the Jazz are in a prime position to finish the season on a tear.
