Pistons vs. Jazz Preview: Desperate teams duel for needed win

Russ Isabella-USA TODAY SportsFlashback to late January 2018, the Utah Jazz found themselves 19-28 as the All-Star break approached, en route to another lottery pick in the upcoming draft. They weren’t good; they weren’t supposed to be good, having lost their franchise darling Gordon Hayward to the Celtics in free agency that past summer. The club’s momentum took a seemingly devastating hit.

They then went on a historic run, rattling off twenty nine wins in their final thirty five games, due to the emergence of their rookie sensation, Donovan Mitchell, and league leading defense - anchored by the 2017-18 DPOY, Rudy Gobert. The Jazz put the entire league on notice, and weren’t going to…