Jazz Edge Suns for Top Seed in NBA Playoffs

It took all the way to the final day of the NBA regular season before the top seed in the playoffs was determined, but in the end, the Utah Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings 121-99 to finish with a record of 52-20, beating the Phoenix Suns (51-21) by one game to win the Western Conference. The Jazz also finished with the best record in the NBA for the 2020-2021 season, and is the top seed in the playoffs.

It’s the first time the franchise has been the top overall seed. This is the fifth year in a row that the Jazz have made the playoffs, and every one of those five years featured a fine regular season record, with a winning percentage ranging from .585 up to this season’s .722. But the first four years of this streak have resulted in conference semifinal eliminations twice and first round exits the other two times.

Phoenix, the #2 seed in the West behind Utah, made the playoffs for the first time since the 2009-10 season. That was also the last time until this year that the Suns had a better than .500 record, and they had some that were just horrible during that 11 year drought. The worst was just two years ago, when the Suns were 19-63, tied for the second worst record in the league. Going from second worst to second best in just two years is quite an accomplishment.