6. Utah Jazz
Last season the Utah Jazz played exceptionally better than they were supposed to and were able to get to the second round of the playoffs because of it. This season, they’ve come back down to Earth and are playing at the level that they are meant to be playing at.
That doesn’t mean this team doesn’t have the strength to make it back to where they were this point last year. Rudy Gobert, one of the biggest snubs of the All-Star game this year, is having a great season and is the perfect centerpiece for the rest of the Jazz to play around. Utah’s defensive game is among the best in the west and with great shooters off the bench in Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver, their offense can be a liability to some teams when hot.
The Jazz are at the same level as the Clippers essentially. Both teams are great when looked at next to the rest of the league, but in the Western Conference playoffs, they are on the more average side of things. Don’t count the Jazz out as they’ve shown what they’re capable of before and they can do it again.