For a second there, it looked like the Brooklyn Nets were well on their way to beating the Utah Jazz, which would have put the two closer together in the tanking race of 2026. However, a 42-point fourth quarter put that notion to bed. Doing so puts the Jazz at 8-13, and further separates themselves from the Nets in the tanking race.
Fun fact: it was also Utah’s second road win, as their only other one this season came when they just barely beat the Boston Celtics last month. The Jazz haven’t been bad as a team overall, but they have been pretty paltry when they go on the road.
The Nets are very much in the thick of the tanking race at the moment. With Michael Porter Jr. out with an injury, the most recognizable NBA players on the roster are Nic Claxton and old friend Terance Mann. Besides that, not a whole lot of big names in Brooklyn.
Now compare that to Utah, where they have the likes of Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, Kyle Filipowski, and Brice Sensabaugh among others. By sheer recognition alone, it comes as no surprise that the Jazz
Oh, and the Jazz did this despite not having one traditional center. Tonight serves as a good reminder that even if Utah may not make the playoffs, they are a step or two ahead of Brooklyn in terms of overall development. Doing so likely means the Nets will have better lottery odds than the Jazz when it’s all said and done.
This wouldn’t be that big of a deal, except…
For the record, the Jazz full and well that getting the highest lottery odds isn’t a foolproof plan, as they have never gotten higher than the No. 5 pick despite their best tanking efforts. The Nets having the same strategy will have the same risk.
The only risk for the Jazz is that being better could lead to them giving Oklahoma City a lottery pick, which no one wants to see because A. the Thunder have been insanely dominant and B. the Clippers are in a good position to do the same. In fact, even worse.
Fans probably wouldn’t have such a problem with Utah making some progress this season if it weren’t for that pick the team owes OKC. Unfortunately, it’s hard not to think about the worst-case scenario playing out for the Jazz when they beat teams that are clesrly worse than them like the Nets.
