The team no one wants to face in the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs is all of them

It has become popular to say that no one in the Western Conference wants to face the Utah Jazz in the NBA playoffs. This is true! No one wants to face the Jazz right now. Utah has won 22 of 26 games and has an incredible defense anchored by Rudy Gobert. They are a real threat to cause major damage in the West. And right now, they are the No. 7 seed.

But here’s the thing: it’s not just the Jazz. Every team in the West bracket is frightening to the Rockets, Warriors, and each other.

There are no easy outs on paper in the Western Conference this year. While we’d expect the Rockets to advance and assume the Warriors will survive Stephen Curry’s MCL sprain, nothing is guaranteed. The teams currently in the Nos. 3 through 8 slots — the Blazers, Thunder, Pelicans, Spurs, Timberwolves, and Jazz — are all teams no reasonable contender would want to face in the playoffs.

Let’s break them down.

Portland has the No. 8 defense in the NBA — No. 4 since the all-star break — and one of the league’s deadliest backcourts, starring Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. It’s quite unfair to be able to have a top-tier defense with those two guards. Defense is supposed to be your weakness when you’re running Lillard and McCollum together for 30 minutes a game! Credit Terry Stotts, Al-Farouq Aminu, and an odd group of long forwards and big men for getting it done.

The Blazers are 2-1 against the Warriors this season, and if — if! — both win in the opening round, they’d face off in the conference semifinals. Golden State swept Portland easily a year ago, but the Blazers peeled off one game and made two more close in 2016, when Curry was banged up (as he is this year). Portland’s defense is loads better this time around.

Whoever gets Portland in the first round is in for a tough time. Maybe the Warriors will be, too.

Oklahoma City has been pretty inconsistent, especially since Andre Roberson went down for the count. All things equal, this wouldn’t be a team you were terribly afraid of.

But the Thunder have two top-10 talents in the NBA: Russell Westbrook and Paul George. The Thunder have one of the most solid true big men in the conference in Steven Adams. A major weakness is OKC’s bench, but Westbrook and PG-13 should play 40 minutes or more in the playoffs. The ceiling isn’t the 2016 Thunder ... but how far off is it?

The Thunder haven’t looked unbeatable at all this season, not for any reasonable stretch at least. But they are a team that looks like it could beat anyone. Danger, thy name is Thunder.

New Orleans has the No. 10 offense on the season, though it has fallen behind since DeMarcus Cousins went down. But since the all-star break, the Pelicans have the league’s No. 10 defense. So long as Anthony Davis is playing like a top-three player in the world (and is healthy!) and Jrue Holiday, E’Twaun Moore, and Ian Clark are showing out, there’s enough offensive juice to worry opponents.

What’s most impressive — and scary for their opponents — is New Orleans’ refusal to show weakness. No one expected the Pelicans to survive Cousins’ injury as well as they have. The story of New Orleans in the Davis era has been one of falling short consistently. Not this year. The Pelicans are playing to their max and beyond.

They are flawed, but a team that gives effort, has an identity, and exceeds expectations is a terrifying team to meet in the playoffs ... especially when they have a player the caliber of Davis.

The Spurs as presently constructed are merely a good team. LaMarcus Aldridge has been playing really well — he put 45 on Rudy Gobert last week — and the mish-mosh of mysterious role players are doing their jobs.

But what really makes San Antonio frightful is the specter of Kawhi Leonard. He’s not back yet, and there is apparent drama among the Spurs’ ranks because of that. Yet he could come back tomorrow and completely change the context of San Antonio’s threat to everyone.

Remember, the Spurs eliminated the Rockets in last year’s playoffs — with Leonard sitting for the decisive Game 6. Houston didn’t have Chris Paul, but the memory of Leonard locking up James Harden in the first five games won’t fade anytime soon. The Spurs were throttling the Warriors before Leonard was lost to injury in the West finals, too.

If he comes back, the Spurs are as scary a lower seed as you’ll find anywhere.

Don’t forget that before Jimmy Butler went down with a meniscus injury in February, Minnesota was hovering around the No. 3 seed. Don’t forget Butler is due back in action any day now. (He was ruled out for four to six weeks about four weeks ago.)

While Butler has recovered, Karl-Anthony Towns has played exceptionally well and Jeff Teague has found his lane. Butler’s return could throw Teague off, sure. But there’s a chance the revived Teague and healthy Butler thrive anew.

Here’s the other thing about Butler: the Timberwolves otherwise might be satisfied with a huge season-over-season jump in wins and the end to the league’s longest playoff drought. Butler will not allow anyone to be merely satisfied. (Neither will Tom Thibodeau, but Butler has the juice in the locker room, by all indications.) So long as Butler is back, Minnesota will be trying to win games in the playoffs, not just make it.

We went over the case for the Jazz at the top, and it’s compelling. Donovan Mitchell appears to have leaped over the rookie wall and Joe Ingles can’t miss right now. The sheer number of guys playing some of the best basketball of their careers right now — Ricky Rubio, Derrick Favors, Jae Crowder, Gobert, Ingles — is mighty impressive.

But that defense — wow. Since the all-star break, Utah is allowing 95 points per 100 possessions. The No. 2 defense in that span, San Antonio, is allowing 102. That’s a ridiculous gap, and it really should scare all potential playoff opponents.