Utah Jazz: 3 teams the Jazz should want to play come playoff time

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder have faced each other twice this season. In the first meeting (Oct. 23), Utah won 100-95. In the second (Dec. 9), Oklahoma City won 104-90. Putting too much stock into either of those games is risky business, as both teams are in different positions than they were then. Two games is also a very small sample size to work with.

OKC is a sneaky-good team, but they’re sneaky-good for a reason. They lack any true star power but instead, they rely on a team effort and some really good guard play. Chris Paul has been terrific this season and his performance in the clutch will come in handy in the playoffs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as a not only a building block for the future, but also a darn good player right now.

Danilo Gallinari remains a potent threat as a scorer, and Dennis Schroder is the same off the bench. Steven Adams‘ intensity and toughness is a pairing built for postseason play. There are a few other nice supporting pieces on the team but overall, what you see on paper is what you get with this year’s Thunder team.

The Russell Westbrook experiment is no longer. A new era of Thunder basketball is here. With that, though, comes a series of growing pains. If Oklahoma City had Utah as its first-round matchup this postseason, expect the Jazz to emerge victorious.

None of the aforementioned teams are pushovers, which is why the best eight in each conference qualify for the postseason. In a little over a month, we’ll start to find out just how good the Jazz are.