The Utah Jazz have a winning record, who would've thought?

It's a long season, and apparently, that's the most honest thing that could be said with regard to the Utah Jazz. To start December, this was a team with a record of 7-16. Now, a little more than a month later, the Jazz are 21-20 and on fire. The Jazz have gotten back to .500 and over by putting together a run of 14 wins and just four losses across their last 18 games. And there's no reason to believe this team is going to slow down anytime soon.

They've blown out teams like the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets and beat the New York Knicks, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia 76ers, and Milwaukee Bucks while beating up less impressive teams like the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.

The Jazz have caught a few breaks, beating the 76ers, Bucks, and Lakers without dealing with Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard and LeBron James but they've beaten some of the best teams with some of the best players around those specific victories as well, so it's not like you can claim that they would've lost had those teams had their best players. That's not really an argument you can make anymore.

The Utah Jazz are for real and are currently in the Play-In Tournament, and there's even more reason to suspect they'll climb into the playoffs proper. They went nearly a year without winning three games in a row, achieving that on Dec. 26, 2023, and since then have had another three-game winning streak, followed by a five-game winning streak that the team is currently on.

the Jazz has a less tough schedule ahead, with a few playoff teams in the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, and the Oklahoma City Thunder, followed by match-ups with the bottom feeders of the league, like the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards Brooklyn Nets, and the Charlotte Hornets. They have some fringe squads up next as well, with the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans presenting some semi-decent threats.

But it isn't wild to think this team can win six or seven of their next nine. And if they can do so, and get close to 30 wins by the start of February, then this team will all but be guaranteed to be buyers come the trade deadline.