SALT LAKE CITY — The crowd roared and bounced so enthusiastically that seats in the upper deck of the arena were shaking.
The public address announcer had been crowing since the third quarter that the Jazz were about to win the game, urging the Utah fans to believe it too. With 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Jazz up by 1 point, shooting guard Malik Beasley sank a 3-pointer and began dancing. Then his entire team rushed from the bench to surround him in celebration. When their opponent, Memphis, lost the ball on a last-second play, the fans erupted.
It felt like a playoff game instead of what it really was: the seventh game of a season in which Utah is supposed to be — at least according to basketball pundits — tanking its season to gain favorable positioning in the June draft.
But the Jazz (12-7) have not been playing that way. They sit near the top of the Western Conference and their players have been defiant in the face of outsiders’ disregard for them. It’s still early in the 82-game season, but the
