The NBA season is nearing its halfway point and teams are slowly but surely showing where they stack up in the league. While the Northwest Division was still too close to call at the beginning of last month, we’re beginning to get a much clearer picture of how the five teams stack up as well as what the Jazz’s chances are of coming out atop the division.
With Portland stumbling last month, two teams have clearly stepped out as the division’s leaders – the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder. While the Jazz are coming off a disappointing loss to the Celtics on Tuesday night, they still own a 22-14 record and maintain a narrow half-game lead over the Thunder for fifth in the conference and first in the division.