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SALT LAKE CITY — A season many believed would feature some egregious tanking has ended up producing one of the most interesting Western Conference playoff races ever.
Sure, most of the teams haven't been particularly great — and injuries have derailed some teams — but that has only added to the intrigue.
Take the Jazz: A week ago, they were in a tailspin, having lost four straight and holding the third worst record in the conference. On Monday morning, they were back in ninth. By Monday evening, though, they had slid back to 12th.
Things are so tight that seemingly every night there's a result (or results) that produce mass change around the final playoff and play-in spot.
Memphis and Golden State move up in the West!
— NBA (@NBA) March 14, 2023
📲 https://t.co/02ml5YJ9GYpic.twitter.com/6haqExT8eO
And just when you think a team is out, they pull you right back in.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, who lost three straight out of the All-Star break, have now won five of six contests. The New Orleans Pelicans have pulled out of their tailspin and have won two of their last three games. The Los Angeles Lakers, despite not having LeBron James, have gone 7-3 over their last 10 games
"Hope is a good motivator," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "No one's really out of it right now at this point in the Western Conference."
The play-in tournament has provided that great hope. Some fans (and, to be fair, some front offices) may want to see their teams slide down and get better lottery odds; the players themselves, though, want a crack at the playoffs.
With less than a month left, a lot of teams still have a chance.
But how real are Utah's chances? Well … things are about to get difficult.
Utah has the toughest remaining schedule in the league. Eight of the Jazz's final 13 games will be against playoff squads — Boston (47-21) twice, Sacramento (40-26) twice, Milwaukee (48-19), Phoenix (37-30), Denver (46-22) and Brooklyn (39-29).
On top of that, the Jazz also play twice against the Lakers — a team that appears to have turned a corner and has zero incentive to miss the playoffs.
While the Jazz are facing the top teams in the league to finish the season, the teams around them will have an easier route. The Lakers, for example, have the easiest schedule remaining. Dallas (the No. 27th most difficult), New Orleans (No. 26), and Oklahoma City (No. 24) also have far easier closing schedules.
Bball-index.com currently gives Utah a 44.3% chance of finishing in the top 10 and making at least the play-in. That number could be drastically different the next time the Jazz even take the court on Saturday. The Lakers will have played three more times before then, and the Pelicans, Thunder, Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers will all have played an additional pair of games.
"We've got as good a shot as anyone," Kelly Olynyk said. "Everyone is pretty bunched up there. We've got to string together a few wins, keep taking a step forward and playing good basketball and letting the chips fall where they may."
But there is hope.
And that hopes has created a lot of intriguing basketball.
"I do think it's great that our team at this point in the season is playing meaningful basketball games," Hardy said. "That helps motivate the group; that helps keep everybody locked in. … All these games are very important."
