Remaining Utah Jazz Games That Could Decide Tank Race

To no one's surprise, the Utah Jazz are headed straight toward their fourth-straight appearance in the draft lottery later this summer for what will be four consecutive years of missing the postseason, but sets the stage for a chance to add another top prospect into the mix for next season.

To make that dream come to reality, though, the Jazz will be set to brace for an ugly tank race in the final month of the 2025-26 regular season between the bottom of the league standings.

In doing so, it'll not only ensure Utah has the best odds in this year's lottery–– one that's expected to have some generational talent atop the draft board–– but also make sure their top-eight protected pick falls within the top-eight picks. If it doesn’t, they lose that selection to the OKC Thunder.

That's what makes the final 15 games that remain on the Jazz's regular season calendar extremely important to capitalize on, even if it may not appear that way on the surface. Utah needs to rack up as many losses as possible for what remains of their season, and for a few matchups in particular, it'll be extra important to get that desired result.

With that in mind, here's five of the Jazz's most important games on their schedule for the upcoming tank race that's bound to take place across the bottom third of the NBA standings.

March 15th: at Sacramento Kings

Feb 11, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Ace Bailey (19) looks for an open lane around Sacramento Kings guard Nique Clifford (5) during the second half at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Peter Creveling-Imagn Images | Peter Creveling-Imagn Images

A notable game for the Jazz's tanking efforts, as this one will mark a matchup between the West's bottom-two teams in the conference, and if executed correctly, could give Utah a nice spark for their lottery odds with less than one month to go in the season.

The last two times the Jazz have faced off against the Kings, it's resulted in a double-digit victory in favor of Utah. Perhaps the Jazz being without all five members of their usual starting five on the road could change that result on Sunday.

March 19: vs. Milwaukee Bucks

Mar 7, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) bring the ball up court against the Utah Jazz at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Despite Giannis Antetokounmpo's return, the Bucks have been quite abysmal in the last couple of weeks of the season, which has made their Play-In hopes look bleaker and bleaker as time goes on. Since March 1st, Milwaukee is 1-6 with five of those losses by 10 points or more, and now sits over five games back for the East's 10th seed.

Lucky for the Jazz, that one win against the Bucks' past two weeks on the schedule just so happened to come against Utah by a margin of 14 points––meaning there's a good chance the same result could happen again at the Delta Center to give Milwaukee a 2-0 season series sweep.

March 21st: vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Mar 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) reacts and is assisted after being injured against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

This one sets up to be an sneaky game to keep an eye on for the Jazz's tank race, as Philadelphia is suffering from multiple key absences in their lineup from what's guided forward for most of the season. Tyrese Maxey is out with a hand injury, the same for Joel Embiid with an oblique injury, and Paul George is still out with a suspension.

At the Delta Center, the Jazz could certainly make this one more competitive than you'd think. And therefore, sets up to be one of the few potential wins remaining on Utah's schedule.

March 25th: vs. Washington Wizards

Mar 5, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Trae Young (3) drives to the basket as Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) defends in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Circle this game on your calendar, as there might not be a more pivotal game left for the Jazz's tanking ambitions than their second matchup of the year against Washington, currently sitting with the third-best odds in the lottery with 16 wins.

Adding to the Wizards' win total won't guarantee the Jazz to shift up the board without some outside help. But if Utah wants to move higher than the fifth-best odds before May rolls around, any wins against Washington or the Brooklyn Nets— the two teams that sit between the Jazz and top-three odds—help tremendously.

Utah already split their season series against the Nets 1-1. Considering the Jazz got the best of the Wizards in their last meeting at the beginning of March, a loss here to split this series 1-1 would be another step in the right (or technically, wrong) direction.

April 10th: vs. Memphis Grizzlies

Feb 20, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Taylor Hendricks (22) dribbles against Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Here's another game to mark on the calendar for two reasons: for one, it'll be Taylor Hendricks and Walter Clayton's first time back in Salt Lake City since their trade to the Grizzlies last month.

Another reason this game's important: in terms of the Jazz's lottery odds, Memphis doesn't sit not too far behind Utah in the league standings. The Grizzlies have 23 wins, while the Jazz have 20.

Depending on how these two teams' records shake out in the month ahead, this game could have high implications for where each see their odds finalize, being one of the final games of the regular season between two bona fide lottery teams.