The Utah Jazz remain the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, for now.
The Jazz fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 105-98 on Wednesday in their final home game of the regular season, but they still own the best record in the NBA and a 1.5-game lead over the No. 2 Phoenix Suns.
If the Jazz win out over their final two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday and the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, they will go into the playoffs with the No. 1 seed, but Jazz fans might want to pay attention to another game that is happening on Thursday night.
The Suns will take on the Trail Blazers on Thursday in a game that means a lot to both teams. Phoenix wants to keep winning and get as close the Jazz as possible, because if the Jazz lose one of their remaining two games, the Suns — who have three games remaining including Thursday’s contest — can tie the Jazz in the standings, and they own the head-to-head tiebreaker, which would make them the No. 1 seed.
But the Trail Blazers also still have something to play for and are desperate to stay out of the Play-In Tournament, so they aren’t going to go down without a fight. If the Suns lose to the Blazers on Thursday, the Jazz only need to win one of their final two games to secure the No. 1 seed.
That means that with a Suns loss on Thursday, the Jazz could clinch the No. 1 seed in the West with a win in OKC on Friday. So if you’re a Jazz fan, I’d start rooting for Damian Lillard to have a 50-point night against the Suns on Thursday.
There is a small detail to consider if playoff matchup is more important to you than the No. 1 seed, though. The more losses Portland racks up and the more wins the Lakers can get, the better the chance is that the Lakers will move up into a top-six spot in the West, which would guarantee the Jazz would not meet them in the first round of the playoffs.
Just something to consider.