The Utah Jazz finished the backend of their back-to-back against the Los Angeles Lakers. It kind of went the same way their first matchup went, only this time, it was the Jazz who gave the spanking as opposed to receiving it.
Don't let the 131-119 final score fool you. The Jazz handled the Lakers from start to finish. Among the reasons why the Jazz won so easily was because of their frontcourt.
Lauri Markkanen looked like Lauri Markkanen, scoring 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting, including six threes. Walker Kessler looked like Walker Kessler, putting up 16 points on perfect eight-for-eight shooting to go with six blocks. John Collins put up a John Collins statline with 17 points and eight rebounds.
It wasn't entirely on the frontcourt. The backcourt of Jordan Clarkson, Isaiah Collier, and Keyonte George also did their part in Utah's dominance. Oh, and hi, Cody Williams! Nice to see you coming around all aggressive and such!
Going back to the Jazz's big man rotation, the bottom line is that the Jazz's three primary bigs all got pretty much exactly what they wanted against the Lakers. Alley-oops, putbacks, open threes, the list goes on! All because their biggest opposition was Jaxson Hayes, Alex Len, and Rui Hachimura.
With those three manning the frontcourt minutes, it's no wonder those three got whatever they wanted against them. Those are three above-average big men going up against NBA-caliber big men for sure but won't be able to stop anyone on the same level of that trio.
The Lakers were right to make the Luka Doncic trade when they had the chance, and they'll be sure to rectify the situation in the offseason, but this could get ugly when the playoffs start,
It's not the Lakers' fault... sort of
The Lakers are also in this good, but flawed position right now because their trade for Mark Williams was rescinded, as they were scared off by his medicals. That all makes sense, but they really should have thought of a backup plan in case that all fell through.
Williams' injury woes were public knowledge before the Lakers traded for him, so it is on them that they didn't think about potentially acquiring another big man. It may only be for one season, but there's only so much time left with LeBron James.
Because Williams won't play for them for now, it leaves the Lakers very vulnerable in their frtoncourt. If the Jazz can exploit that, so will the Lakers' much tougher competition.