In a major collision with even larger NBA Draft Lottery Implications, the Utah Jazz fell to the visiting New Orleans Pelicans with a final score of 128-121. Kelly Olynyk was huge in his return to Utah.

Utah has spent the first two years of its roster reconstruction falling to the tail end of the NBA lottery, obtaining the ninth-best lottery odds in back-to-back years and grabbing the ninth and tenth picks in subsequent drafts. Their fruits have underwhelmed to this point.

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - NOLA Gold Rugby’s unbeaten streak against the Utah Warriors came to an end on Saturday, as they suffered their first-ever defeat at the hands of the Warriors, with a final score of 55-21.

For the eighth straight home appearance, the Utah Jazz square up against the New Orleans Pelicans in a battle that puts plenty at stake for both teams' future and present as CJ McCollum and the tragically fascinating Pelicans travel to Utah.

Juzang 3-9 1-1 8, Martin 2-4 0-0 5, Filipowski 5-12 0-1 12, Collier 3-8 5-5 11, Sensabaugh 9-18 0-0 21, Williams 2-4 0-0 5, Tshiebwe 8-9 0-0 16, Potter 3-7 0-0 8, George 9-21 5-6 28, Springer 2-4 2-4 7. Totals 46-96 13-17 121.

The New Orleans Pelicans will have five players out when they take on the Utah Jazz on the road at 7 p.m. CT on Sunday, March 2.

Meanwhile, the backup show in Utah likely won’t take advantage of a flimsy New Orleans defense. While the Pelicans are just 22nd in the league in points allowed per game (110.7) and 25th in defensive rating (110.8), Keyonte George is the only player available for the Jazz averaging double-digit points (16.5).