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Utah Jazz: How upcoming stretch could help their playoff positioning

By Mitchell Hansen

SAN ANTONIO, TX - DECEMBER 9: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives to the basket against the San Antonio Spurs on December 9, 2018 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX - DECEMBER 9: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives to the basket against the San Antonio Spurs on December 9, 2018 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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With the 2019 NBA playoffs inching closer, here’s how the upcoming stretch for the Utah Jazz could help with their positioning in the postseason picture.

With the 2018-19 NBA regular season schedule in its final stretch, the Utah Jazz look like they will be in a position to see their season extend into the NBA Playoffs once again in April.

Entering Monday’s slate of NBA games, which includes Utah’s contest against the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital, the Jazz are sitting in the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference standings with a record of 40-29.

With Utah looking to make its third straight postseason appearance in a row under the orchestration of head coach Quin Snyder, the Jazz will aim to improve their playoff positioning as the regular season comes to a close.

Taking a look at their upcoming stretch of games, we could very well see the Jazz continue to improve their position in the playoff picture before the postseason officially begins in about a month.

Starting with Monday’s game against Washington, Utah will begin a stretch of games against struggling opponents and should be pegged as the favorite in a majority — if not all — of those games.

Including the game against the Wizards, the Jazz will face opponents who are below the .500 mark and have struggled lately in the next nine games.

Utah will play Washington and the Phoenix Suns twice during that span, as well as the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets. All of those teams are below .500 and near the bottom of their respective conferences.

Along with the Jazz looking to have a favorable schedule, the teams that are around them in the Western Conference playoff standings will have some tougher schedules coming up.

Utah currently trails the San Antonio Spurs in the No. 6 seed by half a game in the standings. The Spurs, who are 41-29 overall and have won eight games in a row, will take on the likes of the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics and Sacramento Kings to round out the month.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, who are the No. 5 seed right now and are 1.5 games ahead of the Jazz in the West with a record of 42-28, will finish the month of March by facing the likes of the Heat, Toronto Raptors (twice), Indiana Pacers and the Denver Nuggets.

Those opponents and challenges for both the Spurs and the Thunder, mixed with the easier stretch in the schedule for the Jazz coming up in the next few weeks, could make for an interesting race in the middle of the Western Conference playoff picture.

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Utah, of course, has to take care of business on its end first and it will need a little bit of help from both San Antonio and Oklahoma City, but based on the upcoming stretch in the schedule, we could very well see the Jazz continue to improve their positioning before the 2019 NBA Playoffs officially kick off in April.

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