Utah Jazz NBA Playoff Odds
How the Utah Jazz Got Here
Like every team in the NBA this season, the Utah Jazz have dealt with a myriad of injuries that have disrupted their ability to play their usual starting lineup with consistency.
But unlike every team in the league, the Jazz didn't let the injury bug stop them from being the first team in the league to hit the 50-win mark.
Utah has been excellent this season through a combination of gritty defense and otherworldly shooting from 3-point range.
Rudy Gobert looks well on his way to a third Defensive Player of the Year award, averaging 13.4 rebounds and a league-leading 2.7 blocks per game.
The Jazz offense has both benefited from and helped Gobert, using his effective screens to knock down a remarkable 45.4% of their 3-point shots per Cleaning The Glass (which filters out heaves and garbage time).
Those who think of Utah as an old-school team lacking in the offense department are stuck far in the past, as the Jazz have been one of the more forward-thinking teams this season in terms of embracing a 3-point centric approach.
The Jazz lead the NBA with 43.1 attempts per game from 3-point range, more than two attempts ahead of the squad in second place.
When you take a look at the advanced numbers on Utah, something that always stands out is how well lineups featuring Mike Conley perform.
Conley is perhaps one of the most underrated players in the league, a two-way force who is probably the safest guard option this side of Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry. He has put up 16.4 points and 6.0 assists per game while shooting a career-best 40.7% from 3-point range.
Adding Conley's veteran know-how to the backcourt with Donovan Mitchell was solid in Year 1 of the experiment, but in Year 2 it has made the Jazz a legitimate title contender.
At the time of this writing, Utah head coach Quinn Snyder has had Conley for 50 games this season and Mitchell for 53 games of the 72-game 2020-21 season.
Despite these absences, Snyder has helped lead the Jazz to a 40-31 record Against The Spread (ATS) this season, showing an impressive ability to smash through Vegas expectations this year.
Can the Jazz keep defying the odds all the way to their first NBA Championship?
