Hands up if you’re tired of hearing about the Lakers this season. Yeah, me too. Thankfully, this disaster of a season has just eight games left in it, including tonight in Salt Lake City where the Utah Jazz opened as a 13-point home favorite against LeBron and the other guys. The spread has already been bet to 15 points. The total opened at 216.5.
Standout Stats
- The last time these teams met, on January 11 in Utah, the Jazz won 113-95, covering the 8.5-point spread. The Lakers are 15-22 ATS as a visitor this season while the Jazz are 9-1 SU and 5-4-1 ATS as a double-digit favorite on home court this season.
- LA is just 3-13 ATS in its last 16 games. Two of those spread wins have come in LA’s last two games, but the Lakers have put together a three-game ATS win streak just once before this season – from November 29 to December 5, when they actually had four consecutive ATS wins.
- The Jazz are 5-2 ATS in home games vs the Pacific Division this season. In addition to that, Utah is on a fantastic 7-1 SU and ATS run, with the only loss coming to Atlanta back on March 21.
- The Lakers are 0-8 SU and ATS in their last eight vs teams with winning records. During that span, LA has failed to cover underdog spreads of 12.5 points at Detroit and 11 points at Milwaukee.
- The Jazz have the No. 8 scoring offense in the Association over the last 15-game stretch. Maybe more impressive, though, is that they have the No. 1 scoring differential over the same time at 10.7 points per game due to their No. 2 scoring defense of 103.3 points per game. During the same time frame, the Lakers are allowing 114.5 points per game.
- Teams are shooting just 43.4 percent vs Utah over the last 15-game span – that’s the No. 3 shooting defense in the league. During that same time frame, the Lakers are shooting 46.5 percent from the floor, for the No. 10 field-goal percentage in the league, including a league-worst 29.7 percent from beyond the arc. That helps explain the Lakers’ No. 3 points in the paint offense of 56.9 points per game over those 15 games.
My Best Bet for Lakers vs Jazz
Lakers OVER 101 points
While I’m not overly confident that the Lakers can cover the spread in this game, I do think that they’ll be able to hit 101 points. LA is playing with a high pace, despite losing regularly, and is scoring 110.5 points per game since the break. Additionally, the Lakers have been held below 101 points just 11 times this season.
Granted, Utah has done it to them twice, but both teams have changed drastically since they last met in January.
