Game Thread: Utah Jazz face major challenge in game two against LeBron, Lakers

The Utah Jazz will face a tough challenge in their second bout of the season as they visit Staples Center to take on AD and LeBron.

The Utah Jazz earned a narrow victory in their season opener against an Oklahoma City team that is a bit of a mystery as it remains to be seen whether they’ll remain competitive this season or simply tear things down and pivot towards a rebuild. Thanks to an incredible fourth quarter charge led by Donovan Mitchell, Utah overcame a poor showing by Mike Conley and a bad three-point shooting night overall to emerge victorious.

However, they’ll be in for a tougher task on Friday as they face off against LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only will it be a road game in the ever-dangerous Staples Center, but they’ll be going up against a Lakers squad with illustrious expectations that was shown up by their LA rivals in their first game.

Particularly in the fourth quarter, LeBron and Co. struggled while the Clippers thrived, and that’s sure to have left a bad taste in their mouth.

As such, you can bet that they’ll be anxious to bounce back with a big win in their first official home game (last game was a home contest for the Clippers, but it often felt like a home game for the Lakers). The Jazz will face several questions in the contest such as how will a smaller Jazz squad stop both LeBron James and Anthony Davis defensively? Can they find their shooting stroke that’s been lacking? Can Conley get in a groove? Can Donovan Mitchell replicate his efficient outing from the first game?

It won’t be easy, but if Utah wants to be considered one of the best in the West and legitimate championship hopefuls, they’ll have to prove they can show up in marquee games against star-studded squads like the Lakers.

Game Data

Broadcast Info

Tip-off: 8:30 PM MT on October 25 from Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA
TV: ESPN
Radio: The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM & 1280 AM Salt Lake City)

Projected Starting Lineups

Royce O’Neale got the start in Utah’s season opener and I imagine he will yet again, though it will be interesting to see if Quin Snyder opts to make a change to better contain the combination of James, Davis and JaVale McGee to matchup with their size. Considering how infrequently Snyder changed the starting lineup last year, though, I’d predict he’ll lean more towards in-game adjustments and less towards switching the initial starters too much.

Injuries

Dante Exum remains out for the Jazz with a right knee injury. Meanwhile, the Lakers will be without Kyle Kuzma while Rajon Rondo‘s status remains in question. Alex Caruso, who got banged up in preseason, is available.

Prediction

The Action Network has the Lakers as 3.5-point favorites and that’s probably a fair estimate. Both the Jazz and Lakers are teams that figure to be staunch this season, but they’re each in a similar tricky boat wherein they’re trying to adjust to new faces and assimilate to a new team, so this one should be close.

I’ve long been of the mindset that the Jazz are going to take about 25 games to get their feet underneath them, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see this be one of the early games they drop as they face a challenging opponent on the road.

I’m going with Lakers 103 – Jazz 97.

Discussion

#UTAatLAL will be the Twitter hashtag for the game. You can catch our observations on the live tweets @TheJNotes. Or hit us with your thoughts during the game in the comments below.