The Best Team in the NBA?

The Utah Jazz have been on a tear this season.  After blowing a 3-1 lead in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs, they have looked more disciplined this season and currently have the best record in the NBA at 27-8.  At this point in the season, they have a commanding lead over the rest of the league with the next best team, the Phoenix Suns, having a record of 23-11.  The Jazz have been on another level, but as we’ve seen in the past regular-season success does not always translate to post-season glory.  The Bucks have been a great example of this, having the best record in the league the past two years, but failing to make it to the Finals either year.  Are the Jazz the new Bucks?

Let me start by saying the Jazz are a great basketball team in many respects and it’s never easy to have the best record in the NBA; as mentioned it requires extreme discipline from a team and consistent performance day in and day out.  One of the reasons the Jazz have been able to stay consistent this season is the presence of their veterans, something that we’ve seen some younger teams lack.  They have a number of guys who have been in the league for a while and know what it takes to play out an NBA season.

Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Joe Ingles are all over 30 and have been integral to the success of the Jazz this season.  Bogdanovic especially has been making a difference this season, as they missed him in last year’s playoffs due to injury.

With the help and guidance of their veterans, their younger stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert have been terrific this season with consistent effort in leading the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.  The Jazz are currently second in defensive rating and third in offensive rating.  Both of them, having shown improvement from last year, are all-stars this year, deservingly so.  Another younger player on the Jazz that needs to be mentioned is Jordan Clarkson.  He’s had a great year so far averaging over 18 points per game on about 26 minutes per game.

Although the Jazz have been terrific so far, many doubt they will truly be able to compete with teams with bigger superstars like the Lakers with LeBron and Davis and the Nets with Harden, Irving, and Durant.  A short while ago, NBA great, Shaquille O’Neal told Donovan Mitchell he doesn’t believe he has what it takes to get to the next level.  It will be very challenging to compete with the healthy Lakers and Nets, but Mitchell and the Jazz have been proving people wrong so far this season, and we’ll see if they can back it up in the playoffs.