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SALT LAKE CITY — There seemed to be a sense of relief coming from the Jazz following Friday's 111-101 win over Detroit.
In normal circumstances a victory over the Pistons wouldn't be noteworthy — just another win over one of the bottom feeders in the league. Considering Utah's upcoming schedule, though, the Jazz needed it.
Not only did it start to get them out of the current slump, but it provided at least something to build off as they embark on what may be the hardest stretch of the season. The next four games will be against the top three teams in the league.
The Jazz will play in San Francisco against the Warriors, head to Phoenix to play the Suns, return to Salt Lake City for a rematch with the Suns and then go to Memphis to play the Grizzlies.
The Warriors have been in a little slump themselves without Draymond Green. They're 4-6 in their last 10 games and needed a Steph Curry buzzer beater to beat the Rockets on Friday. The Suns have won five in a row and the Grizzlies are relatively fresh off a 10-game winning streak that helped them overtake Utah in the standings.
What's the importance of this upcoming stretch?
"Just to see where we are right now," Bojan Bogdanovic said. "We lost a couple games lately but we are still good enough to beat and play against anybody. It's gonna be a great test for us, especially for our defense."
For much of its slump, Utah hasn't had its full roster. Rudy Gobert missed five games (Utah went 1-4 in them), multiple rotation players have been in and out with COVID-19, and Donovan Mitchell has even missed the last two games with a concussion. If there's good news, the Jazz could be all the way back.
Coach Quin Snyder said Hassan Whiteside is getting close to returning from his stint in COVID protocols; and it's been nearly a week since Mitchell's collision against the Los Angeles Lakers that pushed him into concussion protocols.
If the Jazz are fully healthy, this upcoming stretch could be revealing. Even before the recent stretch of poor play, Utah had been looking for a signature win.
Seriously, what's been the best win of the season? The Milwaukee Bucks when they were without Khris Middleton? The Cavs in Cleveland? The Denver Nuggets when Utah didn't have Gobert?
Due to a light early schedule, the Jazz haven't played a lot of the contenders this season; however, in the few games they have played, they've lost — dropping games to Miami, Chicago, Golden State and Memphis.
The next week could make the last couple of weeks much ado about nothing or it could reveal how far away the Jazz are from the NBA's top teams.
"We are going to play good teams, that's great," Gobert said. "There's no team in this league I don't think we can beat, and if you want to be a championship team, you gotta be confident in yourself and our group, and we do. The NBA season has a lot of games, some stretches are going to be tough, but how we respond is the most important thing. Right now, I really like the way we are responding."
On Friday morning amid some laughs and some jokes, Jordan Clarkson detailed how each season comes with its own high and low points. Utah wasn't about to proclaim itself champion after going 14-2 over a 16-game stretch in December, and the Jazz aren't overly worried about the recent run of play either.
"We know what a season holds. We know there's gonna be a down part of the season," Clarkson said. "There's 82 games — if you think we are gonna play at the highest level every single night and not have a slow stretch where we lose games or anything like that, I think it's unrealistic."
After Friday's win, the lowest point may be over. Now, the Jazz have a chance to see how realistic their championship aspirations are.
