Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers: Keys to the Game

The Utah Jazz’s previous two games against the Los Angeles Lakers this year have been closely contested and I expect a similar result in their meeting tonight.

As I mentioned in my week preview from earlier this morning, the Los Angeles Lakers are one of two teams (Dallas is the other) that the Jazz are currently 2-0 against so far on the season. If history repeats itself, then it will bode well for Utah’s chances against a struggling 12-22 Lakers squad.

However, Utah has only outscored LA by 6.5 points in the two meetings. In the first contest, the Lakers hung with the Jazz nearly the entire way but George Hill and Co. were able to pull away late. The second time around, Utah led by as many as 19 before letting the Lakers back in the game after being outscored 27-18 in the final period.

What should have been a blowout win ended up being a narrow victory, a theme that has been common for the Jazz this season. Except, of late, it’s been minus the victory portion as well.

While Utah should enjoy a significant advantage over the Lakers, their recent play and inability to close games has created some reason for concern. Despite the fact that LA has lost 12 of their last 14, they’re coming off a significant Christmas Day victory over the Clippers and are a scrappy bunch that won’t go down without a fight.

Thus Utah will need to be at their best to stave off a feisty LA squad and avoid yet another disappointing loss.

Key Match-up – Gordon Hayward and Luol Deng

Although Luol Deng is posting career lows in points and field goal percentage this season, he’s still a versatile defender and a savvy veteran who plays an important role on this Lakers squad with his experience and high basketball IQ.

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And you can bet that he’ll do everything in his power to slow down Gordon Hayward, who after his horrific performance against the Warriors three games ago, looked much improved in Utah’s last two games and was one of the few bright points for the Jazz in last week’s final two losses.

Even though the Jazz have been shorthanded for much of the season, Hayward has done everything in his power to keep his team afloat and for the most part he’s done a commendable job. However, with George Hill still sidelined and with Rodney Hood having scored just 12 total points over his last three games as he struggled with illness, Utah will need Hayward to have a big game to improve to 3-0 against the Lakers on the season.

Hayward didn’t play against LA the first time these two teams met, but he was phenomenal in the second contest as he posted 23 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win. As long as he’s able to outwit and outmatch the veteran Deng and thus put up a similar performance, Utah should have a great chance to come away with a win once again.

Key Stat – Bench Points

I pinned bench points as the key stat the last time these two teams met and it only seems fitting to do so again. Despite LA’s recent struggles, they’re still the league leader in bench points at 50 per game.

Last time the Jazz played the Lakers, Lou Williams alone outscored the Jazz’s bench as he finished with an impressive 38 points compared to 32 from Utah’s reserves. In all, LA’s reserves outscored Utah’s 67-32.

Of course, having Lou Williams, who is the team’s leading scorer and arguably their best player, come off the bench as sixth man helps boost their second unit tremendously. And although Utah still managed to win the game despite being outmatched in the second unit, it still has to be an area of emphasis for them.

Utah’s bench continues to struggle and is currently in the bottom third in the NBA in points per game. Surely injuries have been a major hindrance to that and with Exum, Burks and Hill all out for tonight’s contest, they’ll be thin at the guard position once again.

So while Utah’s second unit most likely won’t outscore the Lakers bench, due largely to how the Lakers play and the simple fact that Williams is a tremendous bench scorer, the Jazz will need to weather the storm while their starters are sitting and not allow the Lakers reserves to get any sort of momentum rolling that would allow them to turn the tide of the game.

Key Performer – Rudy Gobert

It’s been hard to pin anyone else besides Rudy Gobert as Utah’s top performer based on how incredibly he has been playing of late. He’s been the Jazz’s most consistent producer who never takes a night off and gives his best on both ends of the floor night in and night out.

He logged a 14-point, 17-rebound double-double the last time these two teams met and has elevated his double-double streak to ten straight games.

And against the Lakers, he’ll enjoy an enormous advantage as he faces off against the likes of Timofey Mozgov, Julius Randle and Tarik Black in the paint, none of which are known for their defensive prowess or overwhelming scoring ability.

Thus, with Gobert facing a less than daunting challenge on both ends of the floor, expect him to be active on offense while being able to serve as a daunting rim protector and solid help defender given that his opponents in the paint shouldn’t command too much of his attention.

Prediction – Jazz 106, Lakers 100

While I would very much like to see the Jazz log a convincing and dominant win over the Lakers, they haven’t done so yet on the year and last week hardly looked capable of blowing out anyone as they were discouragingly defeated in three straight games.

Thus, while I still believe the Jazz are more than capable of beating an inexperienced Lakers team, their lack of health and recent lack of consistency have me feeling a bit nervous. Nevertheless, I’ll still go ahead and slot them as six-point winners of the contest just as I did in my preview of week ten of Utah Jazz action.

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The game tonight will likely be the toughest of the week as the Lakers are the most dangerous opponent of the three Utah will face (which is really saying something) and due to the fact that this is the lone game on the road.

Nevertheless, Utah still has a phenomenal opportunity to make up for last week’s abysmal performances by winning three straight this time around. A win tonight would be a huge confidence builder for a team down on their luck and one that would hopefully help get the Jazz headed back in the right direction for the remaining games of the week.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com