Two teams trying to hang on to the No. 4 seeds in their respective conferences will square off in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night when the Utah Jazz host the Chicago Bulls.
Neither squad has played to its potential in recent games — each lost Monday night — and neither wants to slip out of a top-four spot as the playoffs approach in less than a month.
The Dallas Mavericks have caught up with the Jazz at 42-26, with Utah having lost four of seven, including a gut-wrenching 117-111 home loss to Milwaukee on Monday night. The Jazz currently hold the head-to-head tiebreaker (2-1), but the teams play again in Dallas later this month.
The Bulls, at 41-27, hold a tenuous half-game lead over No. 5 Boston (41-28) for home-court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Chicago has dropped six of eight, including a 112-103 setback in Sacramento on Monday.
Chicago made things interesting against the Kings after falling behind by 20 and then pulling within one early in…