The difference between being a playoff team and a championship-contending team is minuscule but noticeable.
Playoff teams find themselves in close games at the end.
Championship contenders know how to win those close games at the end.
The Utah Jazz are proving to be in that upper echelon of championship contenders–and Tuesday night was another step in that direction.
Led by seven players in double figures, Utah used a big fourth quarter to take down Denver 122-110 in front of a sold-out and raucous Vivint Arena.
“I think that’s a level of maturity for our team that we’re finally starting to get to, starting to see,” Donovan Mitchell said postgame.