Saturday night did not go so well for the Utah Jazz, as they suffered a surprising defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 101-96. Though they're already eliminated from the playoffs, the Wolves have now beat the Jazz twice in Salt Lake City this season, which is as much as the rest of the league combined.
But despite that slip-up, the Jazz still ended the weekend on a high note, as they became the first team in the NBA to clinch a playoff berth this season. They secured their spot when the Portland Trail Blazers lost to the Memphis Grizzlies.
By virtue of that result, the Jazz now have a 12-game lead over the seventh-place Blazers and a 12.5-game lead over the eighth-place Grizzlies. So even in the unlikely scenario where the Jazz lost the rest of their games, and both of those teams won the rest of their games, they would all finish with equal records at 44-28. And since the Jazz have both tiebreakers, that means they would get the higher seed, which in this case means finishing no worse than sixth -- the last guaranteed spot now that the play-in tournament exists.
This is the fifth straight playoff appearance for the Jazz, who have the best record in the league at 44-16. But while they know they're going to the playoffs, they still have some work to do considering their lead over the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers for the top spot in the Western Conference is down to just two games. After such an incredible season, it would certainly be a disappointment for the Jazz to drop all the way down to third.
Regardless, there are big expectations for the Jazz this postseason. They've been eliminated in the first round two times in a row, and blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the bubble last summer. That can't happen again, especially now that they're healthy and have been one of the best teams in the league on both sides of the ball.
"spot" - Google News
April 26, 2021 at 08:11PM
https://ift.tt/3dQEPO0
Jazz become first team in NBA to clinch playoff spot this season - CBS Sports
"spot" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2sMidK2
https://ift.tt/3c9XpgI
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Jazz become first team in NBA to clinch playoff spot this season - CBS Sports"
Post a Comment