3/27 Utah vs. Los Angeles
8:30 pm MT – ESPN
Opponent record: 31-41
Season series: Tied 1-1
Despite the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers were recently eliminated from the playoffs, marking one of the most disappointing seasons in LeBron James‘ career (on a team level anyway), this is still a squad the Jazz can’t afford to overlook. Whenever LeBron is suiting up a team is dangerous and even if the Lakers have little left to play for, they still pose a significant threat.
Nevertheless, with Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram both shut down for the remainder of the season, this rag-tag bunch isn’t exactly striking fear into opposing squads. Not only that, but considering LeBron’s history of struggles in Salt Lake City even when playing on elite rosters, this feels like an ideal game to result in an extension of that streak to eight consecutive losses. He’s considered on load management himself, so we may even see him with reduced playing time.
That’s even more true considering that this contest in Salt Lake will be the second night of a back-to-back for the Lakers, who would be better off in the long run seeking a high lottery pick rather than meaningless wins down the season’s stretch. They’ve lost a number of games to lackluster opponents lately, and I think with their current dysfunction and lack of chemistry that we’ll see Utah arise victorious quite easily.
Yes, outside of LeBron, they’ll have to be careful against the likes of Kyle Kuzma and other relentless talents on the LA squad, but this is still a game the Jazz ought to win with ease.
My Prediction: Jazz Win
Final Score: Utah 109, Los Angeles 97