This year's Utah Jazz team is in an intriguing situation. They've been one of the top teams in the NBA throughout the regular season the last several years, but they can't seem to win in the postseason. This year, they're not finding that same dominance that they usually do in the regular season.
Utah's postseason failures have raised a lot of doubts about the franchise. Everyone tries to say that this team isn't as good as they are during the regular season, and it's not the craziest thing to say at this point. Obviously, many teams perform better during the regular season when the spotlight isn't shining on them, and it appears that Utah is one of them. However, given the kind of success this team has had in the regular season over the last several years, it's hard to believe they won't do the same in the playoffs, eventually.
For Utah Jazz fans, it's been a difficult few years, and all they want is to win the championship they've been waiting for. They'll have to sort out their postseason troubles and ultimately play their best basketball at the proper moment if they want to finish the job.
Although the Jazz aren't playing their best basketball this season during the regular season, that may be a good thing for them. Unlike previous seasons, they could be able to click at the right time, which is precisely what you need to accomplish in the NBA playoffs. As we witnessed with the Milwaukee Bucks last season, they didn't have their normal dominant regular season, and the one year they didn't have that great regular season, they won the NBA championship.
Let's look at three reasons why the Utah Jazz can make it out of the Western Conference.
Winning an NBA title is never easy. As we have seen with the past 20 champions, every team is going to need something significant to go their way. Whether that is an unfortunate injury to someone, or having guys on the roster step up more than they ever have. There is a reason why winning a championship is so hard, and a reason why we have seen crazy upsets in the past. If a team is going to win a title, they’re going to need everyone on their roster to be playing the best basketball they possibly can, and even sometimes that isn’t enough to get the job done.
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Jazz Western Conference
3. Donovan Mitchell must be the best player on the court, and he is capable of doing so
There's no arguing that Donovan Mitchell is an elite player. You can even argue that he is the best point guard in the NBA. He's also not to blame for the Utah Jazz's recent playoff disappointments, as he consistently performs well in the postseason.
The fact is that if the Utah Jazz are to have any chance of succeeding, they'll need two things to happen. If Donovan Mitchell wants to be successful, he'll have to outperform players like Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Nikola Jokic, and LeBron James. On the other hand, the Utah Jazz will have to rely on their role players to step up for him and make plays in order to give them an advantage over their Western Conference rivals.
2. Exceptional defense
Defending at a high level is the most important thing the Utah Jazz will have to do during the NBA Playoffs. When you have Rudy Gobert, probably the best rim defender of all time, this should be a lot simpler than it would be for other teams.
Gobert not only defends well at the rim, but he also empowers his guards and other players to do so as well. This is because every player on his team is capable of defending other players chest-to-chest. When you can defend chest-to-chest, it makes it more difficult for opposing offenses, and even if that player gets by you, you'll have Rudy Gobert waiting to black the shot or make it difficult.
1. They have to climb over the hump at some point, right?
With all of the success that the Utah Jazz has had in recent seasons, it would be tough for them to not eventually find success in the playoffs.
Unfortunately for Utah, this will most likely be the most difficult season in recent memory to get out of the Western Conference. They'll have to face a difficult Phoenix Suns team, as well as Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Add in the fact that Utah will be up against some other stiff competition, including the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James and the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic.