The Smoothie King Center hosts basketball's version of a participation trophy Monday as the 25-54 Pelicans welcome a Jazz team that's turned defensive indifference into performance art—Utah's 125.9 points allowed per night makes New Orleans' 119.4 look like the '96 Bulls. Both squads enter with more GTD tags than playoff odds, but at least the Pels still have Trey Murphy III's 21.5 nightly and the comfort of knowing they can't possibly be worse than the team giving up 146 to Oklahoma City's backups.
Utah counters with a league-best 29.4 assists that mostly assists opponents into transition dunks, while their walking wounded list reads like a CVS receipt—Markkanen's out, three guards are questionable, and their 21-58 record somehow flatters them. The predictor says 74 percent for New Orleans, which feels generous until you remember somebody has to win this thing. Make your pick and join the tank-off commentary on StreakChat.