The Utah Jazz had their most impressive win in a while, and honestly, after that embarrassing blowout at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets not too long ago, they needed that. The pro-tank crowd will disagree for obvious reasons, but beating the Cavaliers is actually a lot more encouraging than you think for three specific reasons:
1. It shows how formidable the Jazz are at full strength
2. It's further evidence that Cleveland is crumbling
3. The top tanking teams are winning games
Let's expand on each point separately
1. Utah is actually not a bad team when they have most of the roster
The Jazz had most of their roster active against the Cavaliers, and while the game ebbed and flowed, they controlled it pretty smoothly at the end and got the win. They didn't have the whole roster, but they had Lauri Markkanen, who they are notoriously worse without, and Keyonte George. Add in some of their role guys, and they proved how formidable they are against a playoff team.
Markkanen and George did their thing for sure, but Utah probably doesn't win this game without the contributions from some of their other guys, most notably Jusuf Nurkic, Svi Mykhailiuk, Kevin Love, Isaiah Collier, and Cody Williams, who all made their mark on this game.
The brutal truth about this team is that it's really not that bad when they've got the majority of their roster intact. Fans fear the Jazz will become a treadmill team. That is possible, but their fighting in these games shows progress. Plus, pending any surprises, Walker Kessler will be added to the fray, which won't *maybe* make them better. It will *definitely* make them better.
2. The Cavaliers might really be in a freefall
The Cavaliers have mostly the same squad that they did last year. In fact, they even tried to round out the edges by adding Lonzo Ball and bringing back Larry Nance Jr. The most significant player they lost was Ty Jerome, which is notable, but shouldn't make that big of a difference. They also lost Jordan Ott, who has been a huge reason for why Phoenix has been one of the league's best stories.
However, it shouldn't be hurting them this much that they lost at home to the one team they owe draft assets to. Alas, Cleveland is struggling to keep itself above .500, not to mention out of the play-in race. It shouldn't be like this. Max Strus' injury has gotten in the way, but again, their season really depends on their fifth-best player not playing?
Currently, it would take a miracle for this to affect the Jazz, but next year, the Cavaliers' continued decline should definitely grab the fans' attention. The fact that they haven't figured this out with almost half the season is pretty telling. Usually, teams with this kind of talent that don't figure themselves out halfway through never do. Once that happens, it's typically the beginning of the end.
The 2021-22 Jazz know that full well. Anyone remember what happened after that season?
3. Even the teams worse than the Jazz are starting to win
Even after the Jazz won, teams that had been worse than them - Indiana and Sacramento - won their games. Better yet, they are currently on winning streaks. Some of the other teams ahead of them - Brooklyn and Washington - have also gone on recent winning streaks. Sure, the Jazz are now No. 7 in the tanking race, but they really aren't too far behind the teams that are ahead of them.
One could argue that last night was a golden opportunity for them to move up in the standings then. That is true, but it also shows that fans shouldn't freak out when they win. They have to win sometimes. Plus, they haven't won enough to warrant anyone freaking out just yet.
That can change by March or April, but plenty of games will be played in that time that there's no reason to panic. Especially if their tanking competitors are also winning some of their games.