PORTLAND Nick Nelson Jersey , Ore. — The No. 3 playoff seed in the Western Conference is on the line Wednesday night at Moda Center when the Portland Trail Blazers play host to the Utah Jazz is what will have all the feel of a playoff game.

Portland and Utah come into the final regular-season game with a 48-33 record, but the teams have taken decidedly different routes to get there.

The Trail Blazers enjoyed a 13-game win streak in late February and early March but enter Wednesday’s contest coming off a four-game losing streak. Utah, meanwhile, joins the Houston Rockets as the hottest teams in the NBA. Since Jan. 24, when they were 19-28, the Jazz are 29-5 and have won six straight coming into the showdown at Portland.

The Jazz aren’t just winning games, they’re beating opponents up. In their recent stretch of victories, they’ve defeated Minnesota 121-97, trounced the L.A. Clippers 117-95 and topped the L.A. Lakers 112-97. On Tuesday, Utah annihilated Golden State 119-79 at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

“More than anything, I’m just really proud of our guys,” Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters. “What these guys did collectively to get better. … I don’t want to diminish what this group has accomplished.”

But the Jazz know there is more to accomplish.

“The next thing is getting that No. 3 spot and homecourt advantage (in the first round of the playoffs) Corey Liuget Jersey ,” Utah rookie guard Donovan Mitchell said. “That’s our big goal now.”

Utah will be playing the second of back-to-back games at Moda Center, but Snyder used no player more than 28 minutes in the rout of the defending champion Warriors.

More than a week ago, Portland was one victory away from locking down homecourt advantage. That win never came with the Blazers losing in succession to Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Denver on a highly discouraging road trip. Now, it comes down to one more chance to clinch the No. 3 spot in the West.

Portland’s offense has been struggling in recent games, but never more so than Monday night at Denver, when the Blazers shot 33 percent from the field, including 7 for 33 from 3-point range. Was it a matter of just missing good shots?

“We can shoot the ball,” Portland point guard Damian Lillard said after the Denver game. “If we were shooting bad because we were taking bad shots, then that would be a problem. But we are getting good looks. … We shoot the ball. That’s what our team does. It’s not a concern. It always comes back.”

Portland coach Terry Stotts said he was encouraged by the defense the Blazers played at Denver, holding the Nuggets to 37.3 percent shooting. Another good sign: The performance of center Jusuf Nurkic Jordy Nelson Jersey , who scored 20 points and collected 19 rebounds — including a career-high eight off the offensive glass — against his old team. Nurkic’s matchup with Utah’s Rudy Gobert will be a key one Wednesday night.

The Blazers will be helped by the return of power forward Ed Davis, who missed four games with a sprained ankle. The veteran reserve, who provides rebounding, defense and energy off the Portland bench, came back to play 15 minutes against the Nuggets and should be closer to 100 percent against the Jazz.

Portland’s starting small forward, Moe Harkless, remains out after undergoing knee surgery March 27. He is expected to be back for the playoffs.
The Denver Broncos declined to exercise outside linebacker Shane Ray’s $9.23 million fifth-year option for 2019 on Thursday, a week after selecting North Carolina State pass rusher Bradley Chubb in the NFL draft.

Ray, the team’s top pick in 2015, promised a big bounce-back season after the Broncos selected Chubb with the fifth overall draft pick, something he’ll need if he’s going to cash in as an unrestricted free agent next March.

Ray’s fifth-year option would have been worth more than his four-year, $9 Kyle Juszczyk Jersey ,118,894 rookie contract he signed after the Broncos selected him with the 23rd overall pick in 2015 after his outstanding final season at Missouri in which he won SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Ray, who turns 25 in two weeks, has started just 15 games in three NFL seasons, collecting 84 tackles, 13 sacks and two fumble recoveries.

That production is similar to that of Shaq Barrett, an undrafted free agent from Colorado State who has 108 tackles, 11 sacks and seven forced fumbles over the past three seasons in Denver, where he started out as a practice squad player in 2014.

Barrett will make $2.914 million this season after the Broncos placed a second-round tender on him this offseason. By contrast, Ray’s 2018 salary is $1.678 million.

Playing behind DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller, Ray had a solid rookie season, one that culminated in a pair of tackles and a forced fumble in the Broncos’ win over Carolina in Super Bowl 50.

In 2016 Derek Carr Jersey , he posted eight sacks and 48 tackles and became the first player since Jacksonville’s John Henderson in 2002 to collect three sacks in his first career start.

He looked primed for a breakout season last year following Ware’s retirement, but he broke his left wrist in July, which required a series of surgeries and forced him to miss half the season. Unable to hit the weights, he dropped 17 pounds to 225 and essentially played with just one arm before electing for another surgery with two weeks left in the season. He finished with just one sack and 15 tackles.

Ray took to social media during the draft, promising to rebound from his injury-marred season. After a series of exchanges with his Twitter followers over the weekend, he posted, ”No more social media. I’m going dark” with a peace sign emoji.

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