The Utah Jazz aren't likely to achieve rare feat this year

The Utah Jazz are as beloved an NBA team as the league has. At least when they're at home. The fanbase rocks and supports the Jazz no matter what, win or lose. It's been that way so often that they have a record of winning games in Salt Lake, even when they're not a great team.

They've succeeded so much at home that in 44 complete seasons in Salt Lake City, the Jazz have had 39 seasons of winning basketball at home. In all but five seasons, the Jazz have had a winning record at home to close out the season. With this season marking the 45th season the Jazz have been in Utah, they stand a chance to secure their 40th winning season at home in their franchise's history.

As Ben Anderson wrote on Twitter, a win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday would give them a record of 21-20 at home, and secure their 40th winning season at home in the team's history in Utah.

Sadly, it's unlikely to happen. While the Houston Rockets are out of the playoff race, they're still a healthy-ish team and looking to further improve their squad. The Jazz are tanking. Not only that but their core players in forward and team-leader Lauri Markkanen, the squad's best guard in Collin Sexton, their best defensive players in Kris Dunn and Walker Kessler, and scoring machines Jordan Clarkson and John Collins will all miss the game.

That's their six best players, in order, and they're all going to be out against the Rockets. That means that Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh, and Johnny Juzang are going to have to go up against an NBA team when they themselves are barely NBA-ready. It's unlikely they'll be able to lead the Jazz to a win against the Houston Rockets and that's kind of the point.

The Jazz don't want to win, and so they'll do everything they can to handcuff Will Hardy and ensure they don't.