This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Jazz don't know if they will have home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, or whether they will be on the road to begin the postseason.
Their opponent, however, is all but decided.
With the Oklahoma City Thunder losing to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, the Jazz are three and a half games ahead of OKC with five games remaining. If the Jazz defeat the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, they will officially be locked into the fourth or fifth spot in the Western Conference.
Because of this development, the Jazz are very likely to face the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, which begins in less than two weeks.
"Winning is obviously important to us, as well as seeding," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "You do think about home-court, but the biggest thing for us is I would like for us to be playing well when the playoffs come, however you get there. For us, the biggest question is can we get healthy?"
Health has been the biggest issue for the Jazz all season. Currently, they are missing starting point guard George Hill and backup Raul Neto. Both are out with groin strains.
Starting power forward Derrick Favors has been out indefinitely with a bone contusion in his knee. Rodney Hood and Gordon Hayward are battling nagging injuries as well, but are playing through pain.
The Jazz are currently a half-game ahead of the Clippers in the race for fourth. On paper, the Jazz have the more difficult remaining schedule. Two games with Portland, a road game at Golden State and a game at home against the San Antonio Spurs all loom in the five games.
Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker between the two teams, so the Jazz would have to finish ahead of the Clippers in order to win homecourt.
"We just want our guys to be healthy," Snyder said. "As far as them coming back, I won't say it's a day-to-day thing, but it's a process. I know the guys are doing everything they can to get back."
Hit in the wallet
Wizards all-star John Wall was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Sunday for disparaging remarks about the officiating, following Utah's win over Washington on Friday.
Wall said after that game the officials caused the Wizards loss. Snyder said he hadn't heard the comments, nor was he aware that Wall was fined. He did say he counsels his guys to keep an even keel with the referees.
"I want our guys to play through officiating, one way or the other," Snyder said. "You're never going to be fully pleased, that's why they total all of the games. I know they are doing the best job they can. I always thought officiating was harder than coaching. As a referee, you're always on the hot seat. One side is always going to be upset, and that's a tough job."
It's a Northwest thing
As a Seattle native, Snyder said he's happy for Gonzaga's success in the NCAA Tournament.
"I've personally known [Gonzaga coach] Mark Few for a long time," Snyder said. "I'm happy to see how well they are doing. He's a good friend of mine. There's also a guy that played for Gonzaga, who played a few years for the Jazz."
Of course, Snyder was talking about Jazz great John Stockton.
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