Jazz Have 97% Chance To Finish With Best Record In NBA
May 12, 2021, 1:58 PM | Updated: 2:00 pm
Joe Ingles #2 and Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz laugh during a game(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Utah Jazz are the overwhelming favorites to finish with the best record in the NBA.
According to basketball-reference.com‘s playoff probability, the Jazz have a 97.2 percent chance of finishing with the best record in the NBA when the regular season concludes on Sunday.
The Jazz likelihood of owning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs took a large leap in recent days with wins over the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets over the weekend, teamed with losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors by the Phoenix Suns.
This is the likelihood of where each top-four team in the Western Conference is predicted to finish per @bball_ref. pic.twitter.com/8LTS2Pth3X
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) May 12, 2021
The Jazz clinched the Northwest Division title with the win over the Nuggets and clinched a top-two seed in the West with the win over the Rockets.
The team will clinch the top record in the NBA heading into the postseason with any combination of two Jazz wins or Suns losses.
The Jazz have never won the best record in the NBA outright. The franchise has twice finished tied for the best record in the league when they matched the Chicago Bulls 62-20 record in 1998, the San Antonio Spurs 37-13 record during the lockout-shortened season in 1999.
Only the Suns can overtake the Jazz in the final standings by way of owning the season tiebreaker 3-0.
This is what the remaining schedule looks like for the two teams entering the final six days of the regular season.
Utah Jazz:
Wednesday: vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Friday: @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Sunday: @ Sacramento Kings
After hosting the Portland Trail Blazers, the Jazz will finish the season on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder who have lost 22 of their last 23 games, before facing the Sacramento Kings who will be eliminated from play-in tournament contention by the final game of the season.
Phoenix Suns:
Thursday: vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Saturday: @ San Antonio Spurs
Sunday: @ San Antonio Spurs
The Suns will host the Trail Blazers in their final home game before finishing the season in San Antonio. The Spurs will likely be locked into the 10th and final play-in tournament seed by Saturday, meaning they won’t have anything to play for over the final two days of the regular season.
Basketball-reference’s results are based on 10,000 simulations of the remainder of the season.
