The effect of Bogdanovic out for the Jazz is not that big compared to LA out for spurs, so I would still bet on the Jazz here as they are very well playing as a team. Since there is no home court advantage in this series, I'll always consider betting the Jazz on whichever team they will play, without Bogdanovic which is a big contributor, I think they will be an underdog and I like that.
That is true, with Mitchell, Gobert, Conley and Clarkson Utah has much deeper roster than Spurs, but they might face some tough teams in the first round of playoff. Currenty they are 4th seeded, with 1 win advantage over Oklahoma, Rockets and Dallas. If they manage somehow to keep spots 4 and 5, I would say that their chances in first round are still pretty solid, but in case they slip to 6th or 7th place, that means they would face Nuggets/Clippers/Lakers in the first round, and we all know that means end for them. Without Bogdanovic they could easily slip to those spots.
At least they have pretty good schedule for those 8 games that gives them chances to finish top 4: Thunder, Pelicans, Grizzlies, Lakers, Lakers, Spurs, Spurs, Mavericks.
With Nuggets, the chances are higher if Gobert will be the same as how he defends tall guys like Jokic.
It is true though it will be better to stay in the middle.
I agree with that, Nuggets is a well matched team for the Jazz, they both love to rotate the ball.
For Nuggets, Jokics could be their best scorer in the game, which I think he will really be tired when Gobert will defend him very well.
Gobert's job is very simple for the Jazz, just protect the paint and let his teammates scores as they have a lot of scorers ready to contribute.
This is the time that we can see Conley, Clarkson, and Mitchell to showcase their talent, and I trust them to succeed.
Clarkson had been scoring good numbers in his season and I think they will need him more at the playoffs without Bogdanovic.
There is no doubt that Clarkson will get some minutes here, and it's his time to shine so teams will be going after him when his contract expires.
So I am still rooting for the Jazz as long as they will not face the 2 LA teams in the first round.