Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
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SALT LAKE CITY — Indiana Jones was the hero of his own tale. The tough archeology professor fought anything and anyone in his path and only had one great fear: snakes. "Why did it have to be snakes?" At the crux of his journey his greatest fear stands in the way between him and the Ark.
The Jazz are flailing, fading and fighting for their playoff life, and what is worse is that the team who will take their spot will be their greatest fear: the Los Angeles Lakers.
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The Jazz have fought hard and made it through real rough patches. Story narratives often includes a point where it looks like everything will work out, then one final plot twist comes up and it looks like there is no hope for the protagonist.
The twist has happened as the Lakers have awoken from their slumber and the Jazz have started to slip. Chances are that the Jazz wouldn't make a deep run in the playoffs regardless, but why did it have to be the Lakers?
For the first time since who knows when the Jazz are not predicted to make the playoffs according to ESPN. Like any good drama they were never cemented in to a spot, there was always doubts, but it seemed like they would take the next step and make it as the Lakers continued to fall.
Now the tables have turned. The Lakers are now the favorite to win the spot. They now have a 66 percent chance of making it, while the Jazz are at 43 percent. ESPN's Power Rankings have the Lakers at 8 and the Jazz at 19, despite a one-loss record difference. It is all about how the team's are trending though.
"The committee (of one) is feeling pretty good about its stubborn refusal to proclaim the Lakers' playoffs hopes doomed when they were a season-high five games out of No. 8 on Jan. 11. If they don't start the playoffs as the most feared No. 8 seed ever, it's because they went in as No. 6 or 7."
The Lakers were five games out of 8th in early January. That actually wasn't five games behind the Jazz who were seventh at that point. The Jazz fought through a tough February schedule going .500, but the Lakers posted their first winning month of basketball since November. ESPN's Power Rankings talked about them as the most likely to fall out of the playoff race anyway.
"Resisting trades at the deadline was supposed to supply some stability in Jazzland, but the team mentioned here often as most at risk for dropping out of the West's playoff race has already fallen out of the top eight. Ankle ailments plaguing Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap sure aren't helping."
Losing heart breakers at Milwaukee, Cleveland and Chicago didn't help, but the real back breaker might have been the Knicks crushing defeat. The Jazz are now a half-game out of the playoffs and two and a half out of tenth. The Mavericks and the Trailblazers are both 29-33 trying to make some last playoff push.
But if the Mavs or Blazers pass them it wouldn't really be that bad, the Jazz would be falling fast and it would be a sign that a lot of things need to change, the Lakers making the playoffs is still the fact that would sting.
There is even rumor of the Jazz holding on to Raja Bell, who was finally released, until after the March 1 deadline so he couldn't play playoff basketball, maybe specifically for the Lakers.
The L.A. Times' Houston Mitchell wrote "Utah Jazz's timing of release of Raja Bell is interesting" about the situation. While there ins't anything concrete between Bell and Lakers there are reasons to believe he would have ended up there. Did the Jazz do this to be vindictive to Bell or the Lakers?
If the race for the last playoff spot comes down to the wire, the Jazz will be the odd man out. Their final two games are both on the road, where the Jazz are only 10-23. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers seem determined to make good on his guarantee, and unfortunately for the Jazz it will come at their expense.
–Tom Ramsey of Rant Sports
"The Utah Jazz got the last laugh on veteran guard Raja Bell, 36, whom they have been feuding with all season."
The interesting thing, to read way too much into this, is: Why would the L.A. Times even care about Bell's release otherwise? Whether it is gamesmanship or just pure evil, the job was done and Bell can't help the Lakers, or any other team.
But in the end the Lakers could have the last laugh. Tony Ramsey of Rant Sports wrote and article called "Time for Utah Jazz to panic." The last paragraph of the article says, "If the race for the last playoff spot comes down to the wire, the Jazz will be the odd man out. Their final two games are both on the road, where the Jazz are only 10-23. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers seem determined to make good on his guarantee, and unfortunately for the Jazz it will come at their expense."
It has been a tough stretch to be a Jazz fan. Bad loss after bad loss to push the Jazz into a bad spot. The proud franchise won't simply give up, but it looks like the Lakers will once again ruin the Jazz's postseason run, this time even before they make it.
If this were a movie the Jazz would find the way to muster up a last ditch effort to overcome their greatest fear, but in real life it looks a little more daunting a task.
