2. Fact or Fiction: The Jazz will make the playoffs.
Arnovitz: Fiction, although this five-game winning streak gives me pause, even if it did come against a cupcake schedule. Utah is scoring in bunches and should finish the season with some gusto, but if the Lakers win the games their supposed to, figure the Jazz need to finish their final seven games 5-2. I think they'll fall one game shy.
Cavan: Fact. Utah boasts a five-game winning streak, a favorable home stretch and the all-important tiebreaker with the Lakers. If the Jazz can take three of those home games, and maybe steal a fourth in Golden State or Minnesota, the Lakers will be hard-pressed to make up the necessary ground for a last-minute blitz.
Hall: Fact. It's possible I'm simply intoxicated with the euphoria of the first five-game Utah win streak of the season, but the Jazz are finally playing like a team that could make noise in the playoffs. The memory of the recent 3-12 stretch is all but gone and the team is peaking at the right time with a healthy Mo Williams.
Levy: Fact. They have a half-game edge over the Lakers and have righted the ship, winning their past five after an extended, brutal stretch of play that threatened to drop them out of contention. Mo Williams is finally back into the swing of things and Al Jefferson has been devouring opponents on the interior. While the Lakers' performance continues to swing wildly back and forth, the Jazz are trending upward.
Soriano: Fiction. The Jazz are hot at the right time and control their own destiny. But they play three of their final seven games on the road, including their final two games. Combine those contests with tough home games versus the Thunder and Nuggets and I see them falling