At The J-Notes, we’ve already pushed the agenda that the Utah Jazz may be particularly well-equipped for the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers in the 2021-22 season. After a Lakers’ preseason that could be aptly described as a “colossal failure”, we’re entirely willing to double down on that position.
Utah Jazz shine next to Western Conference rivals in preseason play
First of all, some standard caveats about the preseason’s relative insignificance do apply here. The Los Angeles Lakers probably knew the Westbrook experiment would take time to bear fruit. Nonetheless, they had to be hoping for better early returns than the ones they received.
The Lakers finished their preseason out without a single victory, going 0-6. Even more concerningly, all of their core players saw relatively ample playing time. Russell Westbrook scored a meager 9.5 points per game in 25.3 minutes per game across four contests. Anthony Davis was a little better, averaging 14.6 points per game in 25.6 minutes over five games.
Lakers fans can take some solace in LeBron James’ performance: the 18.7 points per game he scored in 24.3 minutes of action per game over 3 games signify that he’s ready to defy Father Time once more.
Nonetheless: yikes. Sure, preseason games have a reputation for not counting for much: but that’s usually because teams experiment with prospects and unique lineup formations. The Lakers gave three future Hall of Famers borderline starter minutes and come away without a victory. That is concerning.
Unless you’re a Utah Jazz fan! The Jazz treated the preseason as the sort-of training ground that teams generally do. Their leading scorer was rookie Jared Butler with 18.0 points per game. As exciting as the potential second-round steal is, that’s a trend that’s unlikely to hold.
Meanwhile, when the Jazz did make use of their regular starters, the results were devastating.
Skeptics will observe that preseason tends not to matter, and they will not be wrong. Utah Jazz fans should still be encouraged by the absolute lack of success the Los Angeles Lakers enjoyed in this season’s preseason action.