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OKLAHOMA CITY — As the season comes down the stretch (Utah is down to 19 games left in the year), the Jazz's first round matchup seems to be getting clearer.
No matter where you look — ESPN, FiveThirtyEight, InPrediction, etc. — it appears the Jazz and Dallas Mavericks are on a collision course for a first round matchup.
Now, that doesn't mean things are written in stone. Most projections likely included a Memphis win over Houston on Sunday; and, well, the Rockets proved those wrong. The Jazz are just 2.5 games behind both Memphis and Golden State; while Dallas is just one game up on Denver. A lot of movement could happen in the last month of the season.
Still, it's expected that when the dust settles, it'll be Dallas vs. Utah in the four-five matchup.
With that, Monday's game against the Mavericks has a unique vibe to it.
"I feel like everybody knows this is somebody we will probably see in the playoffs, so just preparing for that, but also we kind of know what can happen if we do win this game," Trent Forrest said.
For the Jazz, a win over Dallas would clinch the season series, giving them the all-important tiebreaker. A loss would throw that tiebreaker in doubt (the teams will play again on March 27 in Dallas), and give them just a 0.5 game buffer on the Mavs.
For the Mavs, a win would inch them closer to the Jazz in the standings and give them a more realistic shot of securing home-court advantage.
Now, how much does any of that matter? To Utah, apparently not much.
"Obviously, we'd like to get the best seed as possible, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter for us," Mike Conley said. "We feel like we can match up with anybody playing our best basketball."
To his point, there aren't any easy matchups.
A fourth seed could mean a matchup with the Mavericks, who have been among the best teams in the league over the last couple months. A three seed may come with a series against the Denver Nuggets, who could have Jamal Murray back to go along with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.
Even a two seed might mean facing the upstart Minnesota Timberwolves, the Los Angeles Clippers, or a New Orleans Pelicans squad that just swarmed the Jazz — none of those would be cakewalks.
For now, though, it looks like it'll be a Mavs-Jazz series. So what would that look like?
It's unlikely either Jason Kidd or Quin Snyder will completely show their full hand on a Monday in March, but there are some interesting things to watch for when the teams play each other again for the second time in 10 days.
The last time against Dallas, the Jazz won due to Rudy Gobert's ability to defend Luka Doncic down the stretch. Will the Mavericks continue to go to that matchup, which Kidd said was advantageous to his team after the game, on Monday?
And if they do, what do the Jazz do to counter? In Utah's road trip opening win over the Phoenix Suns (not over a week ago), Snyder closed with Danuel House Jr. on Devin Booker. Something similar could be in the works against Dallas.
What we do know is the Jazz wanted their full roster available for the Mavericks matchup. Conley, who said last week he would continue to rest one end of the back-to-backs, sat out Sunday's win over Oklahoma City so he could be available.
Utah's on the end of a long road trip and will be on the back end of a back-to-back set. A win would certainly send a message if (or when) the two teams meet in the playoffs.
