Utah (35-30) are in last place in the Northwest, yet they are just four games behind division-leading Portland, who are also third in the Western Conference. The Jazz are technically tied for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West with the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver, though they and the Nuggets are both percentage points behind the Clippers.
The Jazz have won four straight and 16 of 18 overall after drilling Indiana 104-84 on the road Wednesday night. Rudy Gobert had 23 points and 14 rebounds while rookie Donovan Mitchell added 20 points and six assists for Utah, who have given up 95.9 points per game during this 18-game surge, a noticeable uptick from their season mark of 100.7 allowed per contest.
The Grizzlies (18-46) now have the worst record in the NBA thanks to a 15-game losing streak that is the longest in franchise history since moving to Memphis from Vancouver. They were on the wrong end of a 119-110 score line at Chicago on Wednesday night, squandering a career-best 29-point effort from Dillon Brooks.
Brooks scored 20 in the fourth quarter to try to rally the Grizzlies, who are mired in their longest skid since a franchise-record 23-game drought from February 16 to April 2, 1996, in their inaugural season of existence. Memphis have been outscored by an average of 11.2 points during their current losing streak while giving up 108.1 points per game.