NBA Analyst Picks Utah Jazz To Finish 1st In The West Over The Lakers

(via The J-Notes)

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The Utah Jazz were one of the most surprising teams in the NBA last season. Not only did they finish with the best record in the Association but also they managed to hold on to it with Donovan Mitchell missing the final stretch of the season.

The Jazz have built a strong, gritty team that will never go down without a fight. They're tough to beat at home and that duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert will only get better as the years go by.

That's why former ESPN analyst Amin Elhassan believes that last year's success wasn't a fluke and that the Utah Jazz will finish with the best record in the Western Conference again, even ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers or Los Angeles Clippers:

“I love Donovan Mitchell‘s progression as a star player in the league,” Amin said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “I look at Utah as a team that looks towards the mirror like, ‘To hell with that. We was the best team last year, and we didn’t get it done’. And now they’re going to come back with a vengeance to show everybody this wasn’t a fluke.”

The Jazz finished last season with a 52-20 record (.722 winning percentage), going 31-5 at home and 21-15 on the road. They boast one of the best defenses in the league and Donovan Mitchell is a superstar in the making.

Utah also managed to bring back Mike Conley for the next couple of seasons, while reigning Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson will continue to do his thing off the bench.

Obviously, a healthy Lakers team could and should still be favored to go the distance and take the number 1 seed in the Western Conference next season, but don't sleep on Quin Snyder's boys.