Nights like these indeed come in short supply for the Utah Jazz. Enough has been said about their tanking, which fans unanimously agree that the Jazz should be doing at this point. Sure, winning games like this could come back to bite the Jazz in their tanking efforts, but not too much.
Besides, nights like tonight are fun to watch. It's a good time when the Jazz fire on all cylinders, no matter who it's against. No one should ever complain about when their team dominates on both sides, especially in a 42-point route.
Another reason why nights like these are so enjoyable is because a few rarities happened in this win alone.
1. This is one of their few wins
This is the easiest rarity to point out. The Jazz got their fifth win in their 22nd game of the season. They probably won't notch all too many, which is why it should be treaured when they get the win. Even better, it was a road win against a not good, but not terrible team in the Trail Blazers.
If they had beaten, say, the Wizards, then the post-game notion would have been, "Well, they have to win sometimes." But it was against the Trail Blazers, who are, by all means, trying to win games this year until they're not.
2. They won without Lauri Markkanen
Did you know that before tonight, every single game the Jazz won featured Markkanen? You probably knew that, or at the very least, that doesn't shock you. That's why it's shocking to see them win without him.
Markkanen has been as good as ever for the Jazz this season, even though he has missed a couple of games. The Jazz know exactly what they're going to get out of him when he plays. That's why nights like tonight also demonstrate how good John Collins and Walker Kessler are.
It's also fun to see the Jazz get rewarded by the likes of Svi Mykhailiuk and Johnny Juzang. This may not have been a game where the Jazz necessarily wanted them to step up, but they did, and it made for an amazing night.
That doesn't change the odds of the Jazz winning more games without Markkanen going forward, but it's always fun to see certain guys who have been playing well already step up their games and seeing guys who don't get many opportunities to show out to then take them and run with them when their given opportunities.
Sidenote: They also didn't have Jordan Clarkson.
3. They had a blowout victory
For all the losses the Jazz have suffered, they've only had one loss as bad as the one they dealt the Trail Blazers tonight. They lost by 41 to the Warriors, and that was back when the season had first started, so one could argue that a night like tonight signifies progress.
Okay, not really, but in a season like this where even wins themselves aren't expected, dealing a blowout win is a huge rarity for this Jazz team.
The craziest part is that this wasn't a game where the Jazz couldn't miss from deep. Making 14 threes is good, but we live in a league now where it's almost expected that at least one team will hit the 20-three mark a night.
This is a game where the Jazz just dominated start to finish. It may not happen again for some time, and that's why it's so special to watch.