Game 82: Utah Jazz (48-33) @ Portland Trailblazers (27-54)

Crunch 99 · Post #1 » by **Crunch 99** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:46 pm

Expected lineups as of 8:30am.

Post #2 » by **Inigo Montoya** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:00 pm

Our playoff seeding and matchup will be decided in the final game of the regular season. A win and we finish 5th and play the Mavs and later the Suns if we advance. If we lose and Denver wins we finish 6th and will face the Warriors and later the Grizzlies, should we advance, which feels to me like the easier route. Still, losing to a Blazers team with so many players out seems unlikely but if anyone can do it, it's the Jazz.

Crunch 99 · Post #3 » by **Crunch 99** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:04 pm

On paper, Utah, Dallas and Denver should all win today. They are all facing undermanned teams --- though the Spurs have a lot of grey tossup GTD players that would make a big difference in the Dallas game if most of them played. Utah is currently favored by 17 over Blazers; Dallas is favored by 9 over the Spurs and Denver is favored by 10.5 over the Lakers.

The biggest question mark game with matchup implications for Jazz is GSW @ NOP. GSW are favored by just 4.5 points. Both Klay Thompson and Brandon Ingram are key players listed as grey tossup GTD. Curry is still out and will likely be re-evaluated tomorrow.

The Jazz tipoff and Warriors tipoff are both the same time --- 9:30pm ET.

https://www.rotowire.com/basketball/nba-lineups.php

Crunch 99 · Post #4 » by **Crunch 99** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:06 pm

Inigo Montoya wrote:A win and we finish 5th and play the Mavs and later the Suns if we advance. If we lose and Denver wins we finish 6th

I think if Mavs win today and GS loses, the Mavs move to third seed and GS falls to 4th seed. Personally, I would still rather face the Mavs than the Warriors, but I've seen other people make pretty good arguments who want to play the Warriors over the Mavs. I am assuming Curry will be back for the Warriors. Jazz probably won't be favored by Las Vegas to win the first round over either team.

Post #5 » by **Inigo Montoya** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 4:13 pm

Crunch 99 wrote:
Inigo Montoya wrote:A win and we finish 5th and play the Mavs and later the Suns if we advance. If we lose and Denver wins we finish 6th

I think if Mavs win today and GS loses, the Mavs move to third seed and GS falls to 4th seed. Personally, I would still rather face the Mavs than the Warriors, but I've seen other people make pretty good arguments who want to play the Warriors over the Mavs. I am assuming Curry will be back for the Warriors. Jazz probably won't be favored by Las Vegas to win the first round over either team I would imagine.

Who we face in the first round is less consequential than who we face in the second round imho. Sure, we may not even make it out for the first round (I'd rather fave the Mavs) but I consider all the teams in the west except the Suns to be at about the same level. If we face the Suns we're getting bounced, I think. Any other team we can manage.

TNJazz · Post #6 » by **TNJazz** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 5:59 pm

SO this has been the master plan all along... lose very winnable games all season in order to position themselves into a decision about how to avoid the Suns until as late as possible. Brilliant!!!

I'm with Inigo, I think every team in the west is beatable for this team except the Suns. If they hadn't lost the last game in such a poor fashion, I might even be saying they match up OK with Phoenix as well, but that game completely destroyed the psyche of the Jazz and their belief in themselves about getting past the Suns. I think the Jazz need this loss more than the Blazers need to lose, and I think Denver needs to win against the Lakers to finalize Jokic's MVP season. 6 seed is much more favorable than 5. Lets go Jazz! you've done it all season, now is the time to finish the masterplan and position yourself for the title run. Let others knock the Suns out, then capitalize!

Catchall · Post #7 » by **Catchall** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:02 pm

TNJazz wrote:SO this has been the master plan all along... lose very winnable games all season in order to position themselves into a decision about how to avoid the Suns until as late as possible. Brilliant!!!

I'm with Inigo, I think every team in the west is beatable for this team except the Suns. If they hadn't lost the last game in such a poor fashion, I might even be saying they match up OK with Phoenix as well, but that game completely destroyed the psyche of the Jazz and their belief in themselves about getting past the Suns. I think the Jazz need this loss more than the Blazers need to lose, and I think Denver needs to win against the Lakers to finalize Jokic's MVP season. 6 seed is much more favorable than 5. Lets go Jazz! you've done it all season, now is the time to finish the masterplan and position yourself for the title run. Let others knock the Suns out, then capitalize!

I'm not sure I agree with this. If Donovan was better rested and better prepared for the Suns game, and he makes a couple more plays, the Jazz would have won. They actually should feel good about that.

Crunch 99 · Post #8 » by **Crunch 99** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 10:57 pm

Bogey has been moved to OUT and DM to grey tossup GTD at Rotowire.

For the Spurs @ Mavs game, Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson and Jacob Poetl have all been moved off grey tossup GTD to expected starters, making the outcome of the Spurs v Mavs game less predictable.

For the Lakers @ Denver game, the Nuggets' Jokic, Gordon, Barton and Morris have all been moved to grey tossup GTD, making the outcome of that game less predictable as well. For the Lakers, Lebron, AD and Westbrook are OUT.

For the GSW @ NOP game, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Poole are in, but Wiggins, OPJ, Iguodala and Curry are OUT. For NOP, Ingram, JV, Herb Jones and Graham are OUT.

All four games impacting the Jazz seeding and opponent selection tip off at 9:30pm ET.

https://www.rotowire.com/basketball/nba-lineups.php

Crunch 99 · Post #9 » by **Crunch 99** » Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:38 pm

Big game for Hernangoat --- 22 pts on 14 fga with 8 rebs and 3 orebs. He's only got a small 17 game sample playing with the Jazz, but Juancho finished with the Jazz' highest regular season efg% behind centers Gobert and Whiteside, and he leads the Jazz on 3p% at 43.8%.

TNJazz · Post #10 » by **TNJazz** » Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:24 pm

Crunch 99 wrote:Big game for Hernangoat --- 22 pts on 14 fga with 8 rebs and 3 orebs. He's only got a small 17 game sample playing with the Jazz, but Juancho finished with the Jazz' highest regular season efg% behind centers Gobert and Whiteside, and he leads the Jazz on 3p% at 43.8%.

Like the pickup of Hernan... loads of energy, seems to have a good bbIQ, and is making plays. Both he and House have been nice additions to this team, maybe what they needed. Both hungry, both knowing they have something to prove for their continuance in the league, and both fit well within the system. I think hey will both have positive impact on the PO's.