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NBA History: The Utah Jazz are going to win on Fan Appreciation Night. Almost always.

The Los Angeles Lakers will head to Utah to play the Jazz on Monday. It will be "Fan Appreciation" night, which is the last home game of the regular season. And most likely, the Lakers will lose.

Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Jazz hold fan appreciation night as the last home game of the regular season. This season the Jazz will be hosting the Los Angeles Lakers. These two squads are battling it out for the worst record in the Western Conference. The Lakers play today, and will probably lose. Thus, the Jazz will hold a 1.0 game lead on LA before this game starts. If history is any indicator of what will happen, the night will end with the Lakers and Jazz tied -- and with the Jazz having won the season series.

Looking at the past 30 years of "Fan Appreciation Night" games, Utah is a whopping 24-6.

Year Game Hosting Score Margin W - L
1 1984 81 Clippers 113 - 94 19 1 -
2 1985 80 Trail Blazers 145 - 107 38 1 -
3 1986 80 Kings 108 - 113 -5 - 1
4 1987 81 Lakers 97 - 110 -13 - 1
5 1988 82 Rockets 125 - 107 18 1 -
6 1989 82 Warriors 111 - 95 16 1 -
7 1990 81 Timberwolves 97 - 89 8 1 -
8 1991 81 Lakers 107 - 93 14 1 -
9 1992 81 Timberwolves 120 - 106 14 1 -
10 1993 81 Warriors 105 - 91 14 1 -
11 1994 80 Trail Blazers 122 - 111 11 1 -
12 1995 81 Timberwolves 99 - 96 3 1 -
13 1996 82 Kings 104 - 92 12 1 -
14 1997 81 Timberwolves 101 - 89 12 1 -
15 1998 80 Kings 99 - 86 13 1 -
16 1999 82 Clippers 99 - 82 17 1 -
17 2000 82 Kings 95 - 86 9 1 -
18 2001 81 Clippers 97 - 92 5 1 -
19 2002 82 Spurs 84 - 86 -2 - 1
20 2003 81 Spurs 83 - 91 -8 - 1
21 2004 82 Suns 84 - 89 -5 - 1
22 2005 81 Kings 92 - 82 10 1 -
23 2006 82 Warriors 105 - 102 3 1 -
24 2007 82 Rockets 101 - 91 10 1 -
25 2008 81 Rockets 105 - 96 9 1 -
26 2009 81 Clippers 106 - 85 21 1 -
27 2010 82 Suns 86 - 100 -14 - 1
28 2011 82 Nuggets 107 - 103 4 1 -
29 2012 82 Trail Blazers 96 - 94 2 1 -
30 2013 80 Timberwolves 107 - 100 7 1 -
31 2014 81 Lakers - -

If you break it down you get this:

Period W - L % Jazz - Opponent Margin
1 Last 30 24 - 6 80.0% 103.3 - 95.3 8.1
2 Last 20 16 - 4 80.0% 98.6 - 92.7 5.9
3 Last 10 8 - 2 80.0% 98.9 - 94.2 4.7
4 Last 5 4 - 1 80.0% 100.4 - 96.4 4.0

Sure, the team gets progressively worse, and wins be fewer and fewer points -- but for each period the team still wins 80% of the time. Can this season be the season to buck the trend? The Jazz last lost this game in 2010, and lost by 14 points (the largest loss in this 30 year period, which accounts for 75% of the history of the franchise).

Who wins this game? History tells me it's going to be the Jazz. Also, I fully well believe that the Lakers are more serious about getting losses right now and will do what it takes to get them. The Jazz, even at this late stage of the game, are worried about appearances and the nobility of wins in a season where they are unwilling to grasp a brighter future than one they've had ever in franchise history. (Never had a #1 pick)