Utah Jazz: 3 reasons why they are a playoff team in the West

3. Tough stretch of the season is likely behind them

As mentioned previously, Utah experienced a tough stretch to kick off regular season play this year. With one of the toughest schedules in all of the NBA to open up the year, the Jazz saw a bulk of their games also come on the road.

Most of those road games came against some of the top teams in the league, and mainly teams within the Western Conference. But luckily for Utah, it looks like the toughest period in its regular season schedule might be in the rearview mirror.

After climbing back into the playoff picture, the Jazz are on a roll at the best time possible as they look to continue to hold onto a postseason spot. Their upcoming schedule doesn’t look incredibly tough in immediate future.

To finish off the month of January and through the entire month of February, eight of their next 13 games will come at home, where Utah has performed well while grabbing a winning record in front of its home crowd.

All of those games (with the exception of one) will be against teams from the West, but with the toughest part of their schedule likely behind them, the Jazz will have the opportunity to continue to try and climb up the conference standings — mainly at home — over the next month-plus.