NBA 2018-19: Predicting Western Conference's Top 4 teams in the regular season
The Western Conference became upside down with LeBron James' decision to join the Los Angeles Lakers. Things only got tougher for the teams in this highly competitive and stacked conference now and a lot of games are expected to end in a photo-finish this season.
Last season, three teams were tied for fourth, fifth and sixth spot in the west with a 48-34 record. For the seventh and eight spot, Spurs and T-Wolves were tied at 47-35. That shows how competitive the Western conference is and how teams have to leave it all on the floor to eke out a win.
Here are the predictions for Western Conference's top four teams in NBA standings this season.
#4 Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are one of the best defensive units in the league. Last season, they struggled to win without their franchise center, Rudy Gobert. However, once he returned back, they went on to dominate the opponents and the teams struggled to get a win against the Jazz.
Many analysts predicted that the Jazz who would not make it to the playoffs after losing against Atlanta but with Gobert back, they went on 11-game and 9-game winning streaks and not just made it to the playoffs but finished fifth in the west.
In the first round of the playoffs, rookie guard Donovan Mitchell showed why he is rated so high and with a collective effort, the Jazz defeated the Thunder in six games. They lost after putting up a fight against the Rockets in five games.
The Jazz resigned Derrick Favors and Dante Exum in the off-season and they started the season well with a win against the Kings and a one-point loss against the defending champions. In Joe Ingles, they have one of the league's top shooters and he scored 27 points in the game against the Warriors on a 7-of-11 shooting from downtown.
Watch out for the Jazz this season as they reach newer heights and are going to be playoff-bound. They might even end up as top four in the regular season standings and make an impact in the playoffs.