Jazz's monster win over Pistons only proves harsh reality

The return of Lauri Markkanen was bound to make the Utah Jazz's matchup against the Detroit Pistons interesting. Well, when it was all said and done, the Jazz not only beat the Pistons but controlled most of the game. However, as impressive as the Jazz were, the victory only further proves that if they want to tank, Markkanen will have to sit out more games.

In the most obvious statement of the century, the Jazz are simply a better team when Markkanen plays. He is just too good for the Jazz to comfortably tank when he's on the floor. Just look at his final statline from tonight.

Markkanen didn't do this all himself, as the game was won by the Jazz's newest cornerstone, Keyonte George, but it's fair to say that the chance to win would not have been there had Markkanen not been active and done his thing.

In fact, it's fair to say that without Markkanen, this probably would have been a ho-hum Pistons blowout victory. Nights like tonight show the kind of difference-maker he is. Because not only did the Jazz get the win, but they beat one of the best teams in the league.

It sucks to be the buzzkill on nights like tonight, but Utah knows pretty darn well by now that if they win enough games, their pick is going to the Thunder, and that's a problem. Tonight serves as good proof that the Jazz aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are when they are mostly at full strength, but also why it's in their best interest to keep Markkanen out with "groin injury management."

Utah probably played Markkanen because they thought they'd lose regardless

Nights like tonight, regardless of the final result, also show that while the Jazz likely want to tank, they also want to remain competitive in losses. Playing Markkanen against the Pistons on paper signaled to the Jazz that they could play as competitively as possible and still lose, meaning they could have their cake and eat it too.

Alas, the team with Markkanen is competent enough to give pretty much any NBA team a run for their money. The Pistons have had better overall performances, but the Jazz proved to be just good enough to beat a team like them when their best player is on the floor.

Utah was right to think tonight would be more fun with Markkanen active, but it also shows that they really shouldn't take any more chances. Of course, they shouldn't bench Markkanen for the rest of the season from here, but they must do everything they can to ensure their worst-case scenario does not play out in real time.

How they do that without making it blatantly obvious like last season is quite the puzzle to solve.