Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards clash in what will technically be a basketball game

This is the big one. The Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.

Scroll all the way down the NBA standings, and you should be able to find these teams representing some of the very worst either conference has to offer. It’s an elderly goldfish vs a geriatric turtle. It’s coughing baby vs sneezing baby. It’s the fifth-worst Utah Jazz and fourth-worst Washington Wizards. The tagline for this blockbuster epic? Somebody’s got to win. That’s how basketball games work.

It’s professional sports’ worst-kept secret that these two teams have been gunning for lottery odds over Ws — they’ve been the usual suspects for the past few seasons, and this 2025-26 has been no exception.

Washington (16-45) has sidelined their newly acquired veteran stars, Trae Young and Anthony Davis, in an effort to lose today and win tomorrow (though Young struggles to remain sidelined at times). Though their strategy board reads only “TANK”, their new acquisitions arrived with a promise: lose today, win tomorrow.

Utah (18-44) is in a very similar trajectory since the trade deadline, though instead of banking on aging stars alongside their budding young core, the Jazz plug 27-year-old Jaren Jackson Jr. into their roster to pair with their youngsters and whatever you’d consider Lauri Markkanen to be. But with JJJ, Markkanen, and Kessler all out with injury, the Jazz are equally keen to burn the season in hopes of adding an excellent rookie to fortify what’s already forming into a frightening roster.

Lose today, win tomorrow. But again, somebody has got to win in the nation’s capital on Thursday. It’s inescapable.

The Jazz sit 1.5 games ahead of the Wizards in the current standings, but a Washington victory would cut the difference to just 0.5 games. Danny Ainge salivates. Austin Ainge continues to pretend that the Jazz don’t tank. The Inside Out HQ in Adam Silver’s brain has burned to ash in a fit of unbridled rage.

Utah and Washington are currently on a combined losing streak of 13 games, and just 4.5 and 3.0 games removed from the bottomless pit of Sacramento at the very bottom of the NBA ladder.

Keyonte George is officially back from his ankle injury and back to his old ways, dropping 30-plus in both of his two games back. If George plays, this contest leans to Utah on paper, as the Wizards have already announced the absence of Kyshawn George and leading scorer, rebounder, and defender, Alex Sarr. We’ll all watch with bated breath as the injury report will likely confirm that Keyonte George has contracted polio and will be absent for the next four weeks, as the NBA rushes its medical team to Key’s hotel room to confirm the reports.

Somebody has to win, gentlemen. Now shake hands and pretend to want it.

How to watch Utah vs Washington:

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026
Time: 5:00 PM MT
Location: Capitol One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Channel: KJZZ, Jazz+

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.