They have the best record in the NBA and they are not the favorite to win the NBA championship. They aren’t even favored to win the Western Conference.

Despite a current streak that includes five straight wins and an earlier streak this season that saw the Jazz win 20 of 21 games, Utah is not favored to win anything. How can that be?

Can the Jazz at least win the Western Conference and play for an NBA title?

Lack of Star Power

Those who doubt the Utah Jazz will argue that they just don’t have the stars. The Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Lakers have LeBron James and Anthony Davis (when they’re not hurt) and just added big man Andre Drummond. The Nets have their Big Three – Durant, Harden, and Irving – and other teams just have too many stars.

The Jazz are led by Donovan Mitchell (25.9 ppg) and 7-footer Rudy Gobert who scores 14.6 points and grabs 13.3 rebounds a game. Veteran Mike Conley is 33 years old but scores 16.1 points and dishes out 5.5 assists per game.

Utah has a number of role players that includes Jordan Clarkson (17.4 ppg), Bojan Bogdanovic (14.8 ppg), and Joe Ingles (12.1 ppg).

When you put them all together, the Jazz have produced a league-leading 34-11 record. Utah has outscored its opponents by 8.8 points this season. That is the highest mark in the NBA. Still, too many believe the Jazz will make the playoffs but likely get bounced early.

Stats That Matter

Here’s why more bettors should begin taking a serious look at Utah’s chances to win not only a Western Conference title, but also an NBA championship.

Utah averages 117 points per game. That ranks third in the NBA. Their adjusted offensive net rating is 118.9, which is the second-best in league. Defensively, Utah is also one of the better teams in the league giving up 108.2 points per game (fifth). The Jazz’s adjusted defensive net rating is 109.2, which ranks third.

Overall, Utah’s adjusted net rating of +9.64 is tops in the NBA. Teams that win NBA championships excel on offense, but they are also among the best defensive teams in the league. That is Utah.

More Stats That Matter

Today’s game is built around the ball screen and the three-pointer. If you can’t hit long-range jumpers, you will struggle on offense. If you struggle on offense, you simply aren’t a playoff-caliber NBA team.

Utah currently has six of its top nine players (in terms of minutes played) shooting at least 38.4 percent from behind the three-point arc. Ingles shoots an amazing 48.9 percent from downtown. Conley and Royce O’Neale each shoot over 41 percent and Mitchell (39.6) hovers around 40 percent.

Teams that consistently hit threes game-in and game-out are the teams that contend for championships. Once again, that is Utah.

The Competition

Utah leads the Western Conference and is three games ahead of closest competitor, Phoenix. The Clippers and Lakers are third and fourth, respectively, with Denver at No. 5 and Portland sixth.

Against those other five teams that make up the West’s top six, Utah is 5-3 so far this season. The two leading favorites in the West are the Clippers and Lakers. Utah is 2-1 against the Clippers and 1-0 against the Lakers.

For those that doubt Utah, there is plenty of data that supports the idea that the Jazz can win the West and go on and win an NBA title.