It hasn’t been the most pleasant start to the season for the Utah Jazzas the team kicked off its new campaign with a 1-7 record, but that doesn’t quite seal this young team’s chances of a late playoff berth. A long slate of games lies ahead, and if this team starts to have a streak where they catch fire, it might not be too unreasonable to raise expectations accordingly.

However, according to Jazz Insider Ben Anderson KSL Sportsachieving such a feat seems a bit out of place when looking back at recent history.

Since 2019, of the 12 teams that started 1-7, only one has reached the playoffs, and that was the Pelicans who won 36 games and qualified via a play-in spot,” Anderson said in a recent report “On average, Teams 1-7 finished with the 5th worst record in the NBA. They also averaged 7th place overall. »

As for how it New Orleans PelicaThe National Team squad found itself, things didn’t get much further than the Play-In, as they ultimately suffered a 2-4 series loss to the Phoenix Suns during the 2021-22 campaign.

Now, that doesn’t mean all hope is lost for the Jazz to make an effort throughout this season, but it seems unlikely. Especially considering the surrounding competition in the Western Conference, it adds a little more pessimism for this young core to exceed expectations to the point of being a top ten seed.

The Jazz started this season on the wrong foot, posting a league-worst net rating of -15.5 through nine games, as well as a worst offensive rating of 102.6. Those are nowhere near the numbers for a playoff team, so there’s a good chance this team makes its third straight lottery appearance next summer.

However, Utah will have its next opportunity to defy the odds and put itself on the winning side Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. MT when it takes on the San Antonio Spurs.

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