Games remaining vs. serious rivals

[Neon Black]

How do you think they'll fare?

Games vs. serious Western Conference rivals + Detroit and Boston remaining:

vs. Detroit W 103-95
@ New Orleans L 98-110
vs. Dallas W 116-110
@ Phoenix W 126-118
vs. Denver W 132-105
@ Boston L W 110-92
vs. Lakers W
vs. San Antonio W
@ New Orleans W
@ Dallas W
vs. Denver W
vs. Houston W
@ San Antonio L

10-3

7 @ home, all wins. 6 on the road. I say they beat Dallas in Dallas because Harris>Kidd vs the Jazz, and they should be able to take at least one away from New Orleans, tough as I expect those games to be.

Anything could happen and things could change for the worse anytime, but i think the Jazz will continue to shine, building more confidence and momentum until they're ready to make a solid playoff run.

(I'm not saying that the "easier" games are necessarily a given W)

[karizma87]

anything over .500 is GREAT against those teams...

[de2nd]

ALL games matter. Considering how tightly packed the conference is, you cant pick and choose game. Even games against the scrub teams are huge.

[OC Jazzfan]

ALL games matter. Considering how tightly packed the conference is, you cant pick and choose game. Even games against the scrub teams are huge.

Exactly. It's pretty scary how tough the West is. It's not enough to just win games, because all of the playoff contending West teams are winning. We've got to hope somebody starts to lose. Especially Denver, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Dallas and San Antonio look to be the teams the Jazz could realistically pass and we need to stay in front of Houston and obviously Denver. I think it's going to be a nail-biter all the way down to the wire.

[Denizfeital]

Yeah, I was thinking about Houston. I read that they won 18-21, just like The Jazz. Thats scary.

Lakers too are doing great, .

Regards,

[Neon Black]

fixed.

[Ming Kong!]

I hope we beat Boston, cause outside of LA and SA, they're the team I question if we can beat, simply cause we lost the one and only matchup we had with them.

[Ming Kong!]

Yeah, I was thinking about Houston. I read that they won 18-21, just like The Jazz. Thats scary.

Lakers too are doing great, .

Regards,

Meh, the Rockets and their fragile superstar tandom don't worry me. Okur does as good a defensive job on Yao as anybody, and Kirilenko made McGrady shoot under .400. With home court, Houston serves no chance against us.

Hate to say, "I told you so", but...

[Duiz]

All of them matter... I appreciate you posting the games, but I have a hard time saying if they would fare some better than others. Jazz are terrible on the 2nd back to back games. At least they were last year.

[Pai Gow]

I hope we beat Boston, cause outside of LA and SA, they're the team I question if we can beat, simply cause we lost the one and only matchup we had with them.

Yeah, but we were without Andrei that game and were forced to play CJ against Pierce (who absolutely killed us in the 2nd half) We still SHOULD have won that game but we'll see what we can do against them in Boston w/Korver and Andrei.

[jazzfan1971]

I thought I'd sticky this and let eleven keep it updated. Unless anyone has any objections?

[Malone Strong]

To the OP: Great post, I loved it. But I disagree with 7 games, all wins, at home. Those are ALL serious contenders and can beat anyone on any night in any building (we are in that league as well....)

We are 23-3 at home. Thats damed good. But dont get unrealistic. We cant win them all....especially during the home stretch when every contender is playing to their max for seeding position....

[bleu]

Tough schedule, but I really think we will finish real strong.

[Neon Black]

I'm definitely being really optimistic in my predictions...most of these teams can give Utah a run for their money at home.

But the games i'm most worried about are the two vs. New Orleans...they just added some solid bench players and can survive if D-will shuts down CP3.

I've just never seen this particular Jazz sqaud so balanced. Alot of times the entire teams would go cold, you're not seeing that anymore. Dwill is leading a very meticulous, balanced attack and everyone is playing their role well; offense can come from anywhere at this point.

I know every game is huge, but i think by gauging our success on the toughest games we can roughly predict the Jazz's ultimate seeding and success in the playoffs.

[JStockLivesOn]

That's a tough stretch at home; I hope we can stay afloat. That said, I'm pretty optomistic also. Kyle Korver's arrival breathed new life into the team's lungs. We're more energetic, and we're no longer performing pathetically during the final three minutes of fourth quarters.

[Pai Gow]

Well Phoenix just got rocked by Detroit, so we continue to close in on some of these teams. We just have to keep taking care of business at home against EVERYONE.

[ColdBlue]

That's a tough stretch at home; I hope we can stay afloat. That said, I'm pretty optomistic also. Kyle Korver's arrival breathed new life into the team's lungs. We're more energetic, and we're no longer performing pathetically during the final three minutes of fourth quarters.

Ronnie P has brought life to the end of the 1st & 3rd as well. I think he deserves a little credit along with KK.

[Neon Black]

100% so far!

[Duiz]

Why is this a sticky thread, shouldn't the watching the west be a sticky?