Jan. 4, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Utah Jazz forward Marvin Williams (2) and center Al Jefferson (25) talk on the court against the Phoenix Suns in the first half at US Airways Center. The Jazz defeated the Suns 87-80. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

The Phoenix Suns had a horrible season themselves and are in a race for the third-worse record in the league with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but we thought the Los Angeles Lakers would just hand over their draft pick.

In the off-season, the Lakers traded for Steve Nash and in return gave Phoenix several draft picks with varying restrictions. This year’s pick rested on whether L.A. would make the playoffs. In the preseason this notion was laughable, because, on paper, the Lakers were one of the best teams ever assembled and were thought to be in contention for a championship.

How can you not be considered that great when you have a top-5 player of all time in Kobe Bryant, one of the best point guards ever to play (Steve Nash), the most dominant center in the league (Dwight Howard), as well as multiple all-star caliber players (Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace and Antawn Jamison)?

However, the team had chemistry problems, fired head coach Mike Brown five games into the season, tried to get Phil Jackson to come back then ended up hiring Mike D’Antoni, who was one of Nash’s coaches here in Phoenix. The team also had major injury issues, which is what happens when your roster is filled with proven vets who are just past their prime.

About halfway through the season, Suns fans are like, “Hey we get two decent picks”. However, the Suns kept losing and the Lakers started to win. Phoenix fell all the way toward the top of the “lottery standings”, while Los Angeles began winning too many games in improbable ways. Really it was just Kobe saying, “We are making the playoffs.”

Now, Kobe’s Achilles tendon gave out on him during a game and he is out for the season, but there is only one game left to win, and the Utah Jazz are on the outside looking in. This is where Phoenix begins to root for teams in adjacent states.

Utah heads to Minnesota to play the Timberwolves Monday, then the Grizzlies in Memphis on Wednesday. The Lakers play the Houston Rockets Wednesday. The Lakers are up by one and a half games, but the Jazz hold the tiebreaker, so the only scenario where Utah makes the postseason is when the Jazz win both of their games and the Lakers lose to the Rockets. This is a very slim chance, but there is still a possibility if the Lakers can’t win another game without Kobe, Minnesota is horrible, and the Grizzlies rest everybody.

If this scenario ends up happening the Suns will get probably the third and 14^th picks in this year’s draft. If not, then they will get their own pick in addition to Miami’s through the Lakers, which unfortunately is the last pick in the first round (30^th).

Suns fans were in the sad position of rooting for the San Antonio Spurs Sunday, as we wanted L.A. to lose every game possible. Now our future rests with the Utah Jazz and I’m worried.

Mar 27, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Lindsey Hunter talks with point guard Kendall Marshall (12) during the first quarter against the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

The Phoenix Suns lost 103-88 to the Utah Jazz with a tanking strategy that ended up working. Management for the Suns gave point guard Goran Dragic the day off, even after he warmed up for the game, so that he could rest and his absence would give rookies Kendall Marshall and Diante Garrett more playing time.

This is an obvious tactic, because why would Dragic need any rest? Phoenix had only played two games in the last week where Dragic played 33 and 38 minutes and Phoenix doesn’t have anything to save their “star” for this season. His average for the season is 33 minutes per game and the longer stint of 38 minutes was because the game was close and Dragic had it going offensively.

According to ESPN, this is what was said before Wednesday’s game about Dragic sitting.

“We’re just kind of shutting him down,” Suns interim coach Lindsey Hunter said before the game. “He’s been playing a whole lot of minutes and we’re going to give him a break periodically through these last couple of games. If you watched him come out of games, he’s looked like he’s been in a brawl.”

While it’s nice that they are thinking of Dragic’s health, if that’s not tanking, then I don’t know what is.

In possibly an attempt to show they weren’t “tanking”, Phoenix’s backup center Jermaine O’Neal (in the words of The Arizona Republic’s Paul Coro) “decided to give it a go” after missing two games with a calf injury. He only played 16 minutes.

The game was really close the first several minutes, but once Utah took control, Phoenix never had the lead again even though they got close a couple times.

In a winning effort, the Jazz had Al Jefferson and Gordon Hayward go for 25 points apiece. Jefferson also had nine rebounds, while their point guard Mo Williams almost had a double-double with eight points and 10 assists. Paul Millsap and Randy Foye both added 12 points as the Jazz kept pace with the Los Angeles Lakers, who beat Minnesota Wednesday, in the race for the eighth Western Conference playoff spot.

For the Suns, Wesley Johnson was efficient on the offensive side of the ball. The Syracuse product scored 22 points on 8-16 shooting and added 3 steals. Luis Scola had 20 points, while Markieff as a starter and Jared Dudley as a reserve both added 10 points.

What was impressive was Marshall’s 13 assists in his first start as a professional basketball player. He also added seven points in the loss. After being bumped up on the point guard depth chart, Garrett scored eight points in only 14 minutes as the back-up floor general.

In off-season draft news, Cleveland unfortunately lost to the Boston Celtics at the very last second, because of a Jeff Green layup. With that and the Suns’ loss to Utah, the teams are practically tied for the third-worst record in the league (the Suns have one more win and loss).

Phoenix has to run home so they can play the Sacramento Kings Thursday, while the Jazz have until Friday when they play the Trailblazers in Portland.