Last Week: Beat the Utah Jazz 122-114, Lost to the Portland Trail Blazers 134-131, Lost to the Phoenix Suns 128-102
After a huge game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Dallas Mavericks seem to have taken a step forward. The Utah Jazz barely played their starters against the Mavericks. While they came up just short against Portland they put on a show and looked like a real contender.
The first-round series against the LA Clippers is still likely to be brutal. They lost the season series 3-1, with the only win coming all the way back in November. That win can be ignored, given that Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams and Paul George did not play and Terance Mann started for the team.
But the playoff reps are important nonetheless. In the bubble Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis have both looked like All-NBA talent. Porzingis in particular looks substantially better than he did during the regular season, finally getting back to All-Star form. If this can continue in the bubble they will have a chance against anyone. If this continues next year they will be moving up into the conversation as a contender.
The role players have also been very solid. Dorian Finney-Smith has provided secondary scoring. Tim Hardaway looks like a legitimate third option. This team is a historic offense with a star who is ready to put his stamp on the postseason.
Last Week: Lost to the Dallas Mavericks 122-114, Beat the San Antonio Spurs 118-112
The Utah Jazz did everything they could to avoid the Houston Rockets in the playoffs. They succeeded in doing that just as the news came out that Russell Westbrook would miss at least part of the first round of the playoffs. Another example of when tanking goes wrong.
Even if they had been trying, the Jazz are not what they were at full strength. The loss of Bojan Bogdanovic has been crippling for the Jazz offense. The chemistry is off and they face a daunting match up heading into the first round against the Denver Nuggets.
The game in the bubble pitting these two teams together was one of the more fun affairs so far but it also bodes poorly for the Jazz. They were able to force double overtime but Michael Porter Jr. had one of his few rookie-like games in the bubble. Jamal Murray appeared in his first game in months and played well over his minutes limit. As he rounds into form things will only get worse for the Jazz.
Ultimately this boils down to the matchup between Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert. As great of a defender as Gobert is, Jokic looks to dominate this matchup.