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Jazz 2017/18 Playoff Bus! All Aboard!

PlanetTerror406 said:
So maybe it'd be smart to just punt tonight & rest & go all-in for the 3 seed tomorrow. If they lose both games, they're in 7th & playing the Warriors automatically right? Without Curry that feels like a lateral move from OKC. My fear is they win tonight, lose tomorrow & still end up 5th against OKC.
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The Warriors minus Curry still scare me far more than OKC. I think people are falling into a trap on this one. You have to remember that the Warriors are now a seasoned playoff juggernaut: we aren't seeing the real Warriors yet. I mean Steve Kerr is on record from earlier in the season saying things like him being fine with the guys not playing 100% on defense, and taking it easy until the playoffs.

On the other hand, OKC is OKC (and that's a beatable team, imo). They are playing to keep PG around, I really don't think they have a next gear.
 
fishonjazz said:
What about if ensuring a non homecourt advantage vs okc or a non homecourt advantage against portland is in play.
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I don't think either of those scenarios can be guaranteed. They both rely on outcomes of other games. As far as I'm aware, the only control the Jazz have over a position is for the three seed by beating Portland. They can guarantee they drop no lower than 5th by winning either game, though. My guess is they play conservatively and try to win tonight so they can be assured of not drawing a first round match with the Warriors.
 
Limping into the playoffs as a seventh seed at this point would be such a darn disappointment. The Jazz are green enough that they just need to play to win both remaining games and take as high a seed as they can get. Media oxygen is important to small market teams. Snagging that third seed clean gets us that and helps the narrative for our off season no matter what happens in the playoffs. People wanting to play the Warriors over the Thunder are borderline delusional. . .
 
radiohegel said:
I don't think either of those scenarios can be guaranteed. They both rely on outcomes of other games. As far as I'm aware, the only control the Jazz have over a position is for the three seed by beating Portland. They can guarantee they drop no lower than 5th by winning either game, though. My guess is they play conservatively and try to win tonight so they can be assured of not drawing a first round match with the Warriors.
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Conversely, I can see the Warriors not playing their starters big minutes because they don't want any part of playing the Jazz without Curry. They have the luxury of fiddling with things like that. There are way to many possibilities for them that don't involve a team that plays strong defense.
 
framer said:
Conversely, I can see the Warriors not playing their starters big minutes because they don't want any part of playing the Jazz without Curry. They have the luxury of fiddling with things like that. There are way to many possibilities for them that don't involve a team that plays strong defense.
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For sure. My best guess is that they follow that strategy. But the Jazz still have to decide what they're going to do, because it's unlikely Steve Kerr is gonna walk over and tell QS what his gameplan is.
 
It is pretty hilarious, everyone wasn't wrong yesterday. It's like the NBA just decided that doing a division tiebreaker was dumb as hell and wanted that ESPN last game of the season to have a ton of importance no matter what. So they just changed the stated rules.
 
framer said:
People wanting to play the Warriors over the Thunder are borderline delusional. . .
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I'm certainly delusional, but my point wasn't wanting to play the Warriors over OKC, it was simply pondering the value of trying to give ourselves the best possible chance to get the #3 seed. If tomorrow decides #3 no matter what, why not treat that as the sole focus? It's a back to back for us & Portland is resting tonight, so wouldn't you agree we'd have a far better shot at winning tomorrow if we rest tonight?
 
PlanetTerror406 said:
I'm certainly delusional, but my point wasn't wanting to play the Warriors over OKC, it was simply pondering the value of trying to give ourselves the best possible chance to get the #3 seed. If tomorrow decides #3 no matter what, why not treat that as the sole focus? It's a back to back for us & Portland is resting tonight, so wouldn't you agree we'd have a far better shot at winning tomorrow if we rest tonight?
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Sure, but you also greatly increase your chances of having to play the Warriors in the first round.

If the Jazz win tonight, they guarantee themselves not to play the Warriors in the first round. In my opinion, that's the best possible value you can gain in the playoff race right now.
 
radiohegel said:
If the Jazz win tonight, they guarantee themselves not to play the Warriors in the first round. In my opinion, that's the best possible value you can gain in the playoff race right now.
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Good point...I guess the risk/reward by getting too clever isn't really worth it, just play it straight-up & see what happens.
 
RRJazz said:
I don't see QS overthinking this. Beat GS, beat Portland. 3rd seed meets 6th seed. Beat them.
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If GSW were blowing us out, I could see Quin packing it in for tomorrow vs. Portland, rather than running helter skelter to try to win tonight. Otherwise, I think Quin will treat tonight as a regular game. The Portland game is obviously for the 3rd seed regardless of what happens tonight.
 
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