The Utah Jazz have remained the third seed in the West after losing a couple of bad games two weeks ago, going 5-5 in their last ten.

That’s good, but the Jazz want to be great, and right now, the gap between good and great is starting to grow in the NBA.

Flashbacks from 2017

In 2017, life was simpler. The Jazz had yet to draft Donovan Mitchell, Gordon Hayward was still on the team, and Rudy Gobert just signed a 4-year, $102 million dollar extension. The Jazz won 51 games, finishing fifth in the West. The Clippers, Rockets, Spurs, and Warriors were the teams that placed ahead of them.

In 2021, the Utah Jazz are third in the West, with the Suns and the Warriors ahead of them. That sounds better, right? It is! Third is indeed better than fifth! However, in 2017, the Jazz fell to fifth because the Rockets, Spurs, and Warriors were great teams, and separated themselves from the rest of the pack. The middle seeds were a tightly contested group of good teams, fighting for their playoff lives.

This year is reminding me of 2017. In 2017, Utah was able to win 51 games, which put them 16 games behind the first-place Golden State Warriors, who won 67 games. In 2021, Utah is on track to win 53 games, which would be 19 games behind the Warriors, who are on pace to win 72 games – one of the few 70-win seasons ever.

The point of all of this time travel talk is that in 2017, the Utah Jazz were a good team who won a playoff series against a good Clippers team, and then lost to a great team in the Golden State Warriors. In 2017, the Jazz represented a second tier of the Western Conference.

Right now, to me, this 2021-22 season reminds me of that season. In the West, the Jazz are starting to be the leader of the second pack, the tier below the contenders. Again, it’s early, and the Jazz have played great games and dropped some bad ones. They’ll make the playoffs, and maybe even win a series, but they are starting to slip from their contender start.

What Is Causing the Growing Divide? 

The Golden State Warriors look like world-beaters. Steph Curry is playing some of the best ball of his career, and he’s had a pretty alright career. The Warriors are the best defensive team in the NBA and are in the top three offensive teams in the league. They win close games, the few they’ve had, and blow out bad teams.

The Phoenix Suns are right behind them. They lead the league in one of the most important metrics in the NBA: Proving me Wrong Percentage (PmW%). When the Suns started 1-3, I called them frauds on our Inside the Arch podcast. Since I said that, they have won 13 straight games, which totals out to a 99% PmW – the best in the league.

Then the Jazz sit a step behind those two teams. They’re 11-6, three games behind the Suns and four games behind the Warriors. The Jazz are as far behind the Suns as they are ahead of the 8-9 Minnesota Timberwolves, who are currently the 10 seed. The Jazz would be hot on the tails of the Suns if they didn’t drop two bad games to the Pacers and Magic, who are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

The Last Three Games

Since the last time I wrote a weekly recap, the Jazz have played three games, beating the Raptors at home, beating the Kings on the road, and losing to the Grizzlies at home in a heartbreaker.

Now, to me, the most important part of this three-game trip, and perhaps the entirety of the season, is the fan sitting courtside at the Kings game puking onto the court, causing a lot of hilarious reactions that were well documented on Twitter.

However, the most basketball-relevant game, and moments, came at home in the loss to Memphis.

The game was close down the line, as Bojan Bogdanovic hit two big shots with two minutes to go, putting the Jazz up 118 to 112. A couple of missed shots on both sides led to Ja Morant getting fouled in the paint by Rudy Gobert. Morant makes both shots, now it’s 118-114.

Jaren Jackson Jr. gets fouled by Bojan and makes one of two free throws. 118-115. With 17 seconds left in the game, Donovan Mitchell turns the ball over, and Mike Conley fouls Ja Morant, who makes one of his two free throws. 118-116. Then, in a very confusing mess of officiating, we get a jump ball between Jaren Jackson Jr and Rudy Gobert. Jackson Jr. gets the ball, and dishes it to Morant, who drills a three to put Memphis ahead. 118-119.

Donovan had a chance to win the game, shooting a tough 19-footer, but the shot missed, and the Jazz lose a game where they led by six points with two minutes left. They allowed too many offensive rebounds and fouled too often, then missed their shots.

The Jazz can’t do that kind of stuff and be great. You can get away with that if you’re up against a good team, and you’re a good team. Great teams win those games. Golden State wins that game, Phoenix wins that game, Brooklyn wins that game. Those are great teams.

It’s Tough to be Good in the West

Being good in the East usually gets you home-court advantage in the playoffs, but in the West, good gets you a play-in game. As I mentioned before, Minnesota is only three games behind the Jazz, and they’re the ten seed. Minnesota isn’t a good team, and the Jazz can beat them. But the race may end up being so close down the line that losing close games here and there may put the Jazz as a six or seven seed.

I don’t think Golden State is going to win 72 games, and I still think that the Phoenix Suns are frauds, but I am worried about Utah. The Jazz have the roster to be a good team, but we need our stars to step up so that we can be a great team.

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