Game: Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers
Time: 10:00 p.m.
Odds: Jazz +7.5, Lakers -7.5
Total: 226.5
When the Los Angeles Lakers play the Utah Jazz tonight at home, they hope to finish perfect in group play in the NBA’s in-season tournament. The Lakers are the only team in the tournament to go 3-0 thus far. Los Angeles can be the first team to qualify for the knockout stage with a perfect record, but they are not the only team in the tournament without a loss. Six teams are 2-0 going into tonight’s games.
It’s not like the 8-6 Lakers have made winning the new in-season trophy their top priority. Their turnaround from a sluggish start coincided with the arrival of the in-season tournament, which is simply the result of impeccable timing. Actually, the Lakers began their ascent on Nov. 10 in the second half of their tournament opener against the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers would go on to win 122-119 thanks to 67 second-half points. In the fourth quarter, Los Angeles outscored Phoenix 33-23 to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Lakers then defeated the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies in the in-season tournament, giving them the best point differential in tournament play at plus-42. Los Angeles defeated the Houston Rockets 105-104 on Sunday in a non-tournament game to get ready for Tuesday’s final group-play contest. LeBron James scored a season-high 37 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter. Teammate Anthony Davis added 27 for the winners.
After being moved to a reserve role, Austin Reaves of Los Angeles scored 17 points, nine of which came in the final quarter. With 24.2 seconds remaining, Reaves’ 31-foot three-pointer broke a tie and gave the Lakers the advantage over the Rockets. Reaves is settling into his role coming off the bench.
The Jazz arrive in Los Angeles fresh off a 140-137 double-overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. Utah suffered its second straight high-scoring home defeat to the Suns, who prevailed 131–128 on Friday. After scoring 21 points and pulling down a season-low two rebounds on Friday, Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz with season-highs on Sunday of 38 points and 17 rebounds.
The Jazz, like the Lakers, aren’t having the season they had hoped for, but they have done well in the in-season tournament, going 2-1 so far in group play. If Utah had managed to win on Friday, there might have been a meeting of 3-0 teams tonight.
The Lakers have won two of the last three against the Jazz, but Utah has covered the spread in all three games. All three were very high-scoring games too. The last three games between these two teams have averaged 256 points. All three games went Over the set game total. Each of the last five in the series have gone Over.
The Lakers have won five of their last six and six of their last seven at home. They are just 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games overall. The Jazz have only won twice in their last eight games, but they are 4-1 ATS in their last five.
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