State your case: Will the Jazz make the playoffs?
Daniel Hansen — No
Lackluster road performance and a daunting home schedule will force the Jazz to miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Predicting the playoff teams with over a quarter of the season still to play is no guarantee, but the Jazz may have reason to worry.
They currently sit at 28-31 and 1/2 game out of the playoffs. This year, the Jazz are a respectable 19-9 when playing at home. On the road, however, that record plummets to a dismal 9-19. That’s a frightening prospect considering 13 of their final 23 games will be played outside of Utah.
Their home schedule is daunting as well, as the Jazz will play Cleveland, the LA Clippers, Golden State, and San Antonio over its final 10 home games. Home games against Atlanta and Dallas also won’t be easy.
Speaking of Dallas, the Jazz will be fighting the Mavericks along with Houston and Portland for the final three playoff spots in the West. Among those three teams, the Jazz will hold no tiebreakers, unless they beat Dallas in April. In essence, this gives Portland and Houston an extra game ahead of the Jazz in the standings.
All these factors have me seeing the Jazz missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
— onthecornerofmainstreet.dh@gmail.com
Twitter: @theGrandDanny
Trevor Porath — Yes
This will be the year the that breaks a three-season streak of the Utah Jazz missing the playoffs.
The Jazz are only a half game out of the last spot. They still play the Rockets, who they recently beat, one more time this year. Twelve of the remaining games are against teams with a record of .500 or less. Four of those games are against the two worst teams in the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers.
When both Derick Favors and Rudy Gobert are in the lineup, the Jazz can compete with any team. Coach Quin Snyder is a defensive-minded coach, so Gobert and Favors are a key part in Snyder’s coaching strategies. The addition of Point Guard Shelvin Mack is a plus. Mack and Gordon Hayward played together at Butler so they already have on-court chemistry.
The Jazz are tied for third in the league for opponents points per game, their points differential per game is plus 0.8. They boast a 61.2 percent home record with 11 home games remaining. Two teams in playoff spots have a negative point differential Houston, currently eighth, at negative 1.5 and Memphis, the five seed, at minus 0.5.
The Jazz will make the 2015-2016 NBA playoffs, albeit at the 8th seed, but they will make it.
— trevorporath1985@gmail.com
Twitter: @trevor_porath