The Houston Rockets travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Saturday.

The Rockets (16-51) have had a disastrous season and now own the worst record in the NBA. What makes that truly shocking is the fact that they started the season with an 11-10 record. That means they have just five wins in their last 46 games played, one of the worst stretches in NBA history. What makes it worse is that the injury bug keeps biting them, with John Wall, Eric Gordon, Christian Wood, and Kevin Porter all out right now. That has left Kenyon Martin and Kelly Olynyk with monster roles, and both guys have responded with the best stretches of their careers. That's a good core to build around for the future, but this club has a lot of things to do to get back to where they were before the James Harden trade.

The Jazz (49-18) pulled off a huge win on Friday, beating the Denver Nuggets, 127-120. That's a team that has given Utah problems over the last decade, and to grab a win like that with a shorthanded roster is a thing to behold. They played that game without Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley, allowing them to hold the best record in the NBA. Bojan Bogdanovic was absurd in that win, dropping a career-best 48 points on 8-of-11 from three-point range. They also got big games from Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles, showing just how good they can be around those two injured guards. Conley and Mitchell are both expected back soon, though, and they need both of them if they are to make the run Utah fans are hoping for.

These teams have already played twice this season, with Utah winning both by double-digit margins. Before that, the Rockets won eight of their previous 11 games over the Jazz in this series.