Utah Jazz Close Out Home Stand Against Playoff-Minded Pistons

Detroit visits the Delta Center on Monday night in what will be the ninth-straight home game for the 15-45 Utah Jazz.

A Jazz team finally focused on maximizing their draft position, this team has jostled itself well into the third and final lottery slot with a shared 14 percent chance to pick first overall in the upcoming NBA draft.

NBA Standings - March 3, 2024

27. New Orleans Pelicans - 17-44
28. Utah Jazz - 15-45
29. Charlotte Hornets - 14-45
30. Washington Wizards - 11-48

In a coveted position -- and a difficult one to retain -- Will Hardy and this Utah team have 22 more games scheduled to finalize its long-term goal. Another year picking in the late lottery would be a major disappointment.

The Jazz aren't the only relevant party to have turned a new leaf in the 2024-25 season, however, as the 34-27 Detroit Pistons are smack-dab in the center of the Eastern Conference playoff push, holding a five-game buffer between themselves and the seven-seed Miami Heat.

Sitting on the cliff of the play-in, the young and envigorated Pistons are riding high in a turnaround season.

It's easy to forget that just last season, the same Detroit Pistons endured one of the worst starts of any NBA team in any NBA season -- ever. Tying the NBA record with 28 straight losses, the Pistons were so horrid that Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards openly mocked his Eastern Conference counterpart.