Portland, Ore. • Game 82 was not a thing of beauty.
It was, nevertheless, a regular season-closing victory that delivered the Utah Jazz the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
They will begin their best-of-seven first-round series in Dallas against the Mavericks this Saturday at 11 a.m. MT. It will be televised by ESPN and AT&T SportsNet.
“They’re formidable. We have tons of respect for their program. Obviously, Luka [Doncic] is unique, and he’s the kind of player that is capable of putting a team on his back,” said Jazz coach Quin Snyder. “… They’re a very solid team that plays excellent team defense, they’re well-coached, and they’ve got an elite player. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Despite missing their first 17 attempts from 3-point range and struggling for a time to gain separation from a tanking Blazers squad playing zero rotation regulars, the Jazz eventually cruised to a 111-80 win and a Northwest Division title.
With coach Quin Snyder saying all season long that the team’s most important goal is simply to be playing its best basketball at the right time of the season, Utah took the Moda Center court without top scorers Donovan Mitchell (non-COVID illness) and Bojan Bogdanovic (left calf injury maintenance) and proceeded to shoot 5 for 26 overall and 0 of 14 beyond the arc, in totaling a less-than-inspiring 16 first-quarter points.
Despite that mind-boggling start, the Jazz took over the game in the second quarter, as Portland’s random assemblage of castoffs could no longer string together any defensive stops — where the Jazz racked up 36 points.
A 12-2 run in the third ballooned Utah’s advantage to 18, and the game only continued to get more out of hand from there, as the Blazers (who finished the season on an 11-game losing streak) did not have the personnel to mount a legitimate threat — even against an opponent with a penchant for surrendering double-digit leads this season.
Rudy Gobert contributed 18 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks, and a 10-for-14 performance from the free-throw line. Juancho Hernangomez scored a team-high (and season-high-tying) 22 points while adding eight rebounds. Mike Conley had 14 points and five assists.
The Jazz eventually led by as many as 34 points.
And so, with the game increasingly getting out of hand, the only real intrigue was a bit of scoreboard-watching to determine how the playoff matchups would shake out.
Golden State seemed locked into the No. 3 seed after going up about 30 on the Pelicans, only for a massive New Orleans run to put the game in doubt for a time. A Warriors loss, coupled with a Dallas win over San Antonio could have put the Mavs third and Golden State fourth.
Meanwhile, during the early bleak moments of the Jazz-Blazers game, it appeared there was even a chance that Utah could have dropped all the way to the No. 6 seed, given that a Nuggets team resting all it primary players of consequence was still taking it to the Lakers for a time (before eventually falling in overtime).
Despite all the intrigue, none of those what-if scenarios wound up coming to fruition.
And so, top-seeded Phoenix and No. 2 Memphis await the results of the 7-10 play-in tournament that will feature the Wolves, Clippers, Pelicans and Spurs; the No. 3 Warriors will face the sixth-seeded Nuggets; and the Jazz now find themselves in the position of needing to win a game at American Airlines Center in order for their postseason aspirations to extend beyond one round.
“I think [Dallas] is a very good basketball team. I also think we are a very good basketball team,” said Gobert. “… It’s a great challenge for us.”
The Jazz and Mavs split their four matchups in the regular season: Utah prevailed 120-116 on Christmas night, and 114-109 on Feb. 25; Dallas emerged victorious 111-103 on March 7, and 114-100 on March 27.
“We know it’s a tough matchup. Dallas is a really good team and they’ve been playing really well,” said Conley. “Obviously, you start with Luka — I’m sure we’ll be spinning our wheels trying to figure out different ways to attack and defend. But we’re excited.”
Jazz fans will now be eagerly anticipating news on Mavs star Doncic, who exited his team’s finale after grabbing at his left calf and heading for the locker room. Dallas officials termed the injury a “left calf strain.”
Snyder said the Jazz would prepare as though Doncic will play. And even if he does miss some time, the Jazz are not about to take the rest of the Mavs for granted.
“Preparing for Dallas is not just preparing for Luka,” he said. “They’ve taken their game to another level.”
