The Utah Jazz have made headlines recently, and not always in the best way. Their 55-point drubbing at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets was horrific to watch, and made even the most diehard Jazz fans want to burn their gear and renounce their fandom.
But then, last night the Jazz showed us why they are exactly who we thought they were, 15 games ago - they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, and decisively at that, showing that when this team is locked in and playing well, they can beat almost anyone in the NBA.
Back in December, we discussed how the next 15 games would chart the path for this Utah Jazz team and whether they were heading for a play-in berth or continuing on the path to secure their lottery pick in June.
And while they beat the Dallas Mavericks twice, the other wins in that stretch were unexpected - at Memphis, home against Detroit, and on the road in San Antonio.
Those wins gave tantalizing hope to a Jazz fanbase hungry to see the growth of young players like Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier, and Walter Clayton Jr. translate into victories.
Several of the losses were also unexpected - Charlotte, the suddenly good LA Clippers, and home matchups against Memphis and Orlando that should have gone the other way.
All in all, the Jazz ended up 5-10 over the last month, only a game off the 6-9 mark that we thought would keep them in the play-in hunt.
As things stand, the Jazz are 13th in the West at 14-25, just three games back of Memphis for the 10 seed, and four games ahead of last year's pace (they were 10-29 a year ago at the 39-game mark).
With the Grizzlies pondering whether to trade franchise cornerstone Ja Morant, the Jazz might still have a chance to stay in the running, even losing as many games as they have this season.
So what is the truth about this Utah Jazz team after 39 games?
The truth about this team is that they're an unfinished product on the court. They're young, slow on defense, lack energy against bad teams, and can pull out wins over the best teams in the NBA when they dig deep.
All of that with the constant in-and-out of the lineup status of Lauri Markkanen, Ace Bailey, Jusuf Nurkic, and others that wreaked havoc at times for the Jazz recently.
They don't realize how good they can be, or how bad they currently are, until they get their doors blown off as they did against Charlotte the other night. In other words, they're a lottery pretender - losing to bad teams and beating the occasional good team, which exposes that they aren't a hapless team.
And ultimately, without changes, this Jazz team is who we thought they were - not good enough to make the play-in, but too good to tank properly. Which means that change is on the horizon, since the front office will have to make a decision soon on what path they're taking for the last half of the 2025-26 season.