Utah Jazz (6-3) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (2-5)
The Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers lock horns Friday night at Crypto.com Arena in LA with the tip-off at 10:30 PM ET. They start a four-game regular-season series, and the Lakers are listed as slight 2.5-point favorites with a total of 227.0 points.
Utah is without Leandro Bolmaro and Simone Fontecchio, but all the Jazz’s key players are ready to go. On the other side, the Lakers cannot count on Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant.
The Utah Jazz (6-3; 6-3 ATS) are coming off a 103-100 defeat at the Dallas Mavericks this past Wednesday. After a couple of home wins over the Memphis Grizzlies, 124-123 and 121-105, the Jazz blew a double-digit second-half lead in Texas. Utah outrebounded Dallas 40-37 and handed out 28 assists, but the Jazz also committed 17 turnovers and yielded 60 points in the paint.
Jordan Clarkson dropped 22 points on the Mavs, going 4-for-9 from beyond the arc. Collin Sexton added 19 points off the bench, but the Jazz couldn’t cope with Luka Doncic, who finished with 33 points and 11 assists.
“His body control, his strength, his ball-handling, his size makes him a really tough matchup,” Utah first-year coach Will Hardy said of Doncic. “And I think that’s why every night when you watch him play and look at the box score, his stats are pretty alarming if you’re one of the other teams.”
a season-high assists for Sixx ?????#PerformanceLeader | @uofuhealth pic.twitter.com/rdDhVrTO8u
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 3, 2022
Utah is arguably the most pleasant surprise of the young season. The Jazz score 112.9 points per 100 possessions (14th in the NBA) on 46.0% shooting from the field (tied-19th) and 36.1% from downtown (14th) to go with 27.6 assists (5th) and 9.1 steals (3rd). They also rank tenth in the league in defensive efficiency (109.8 points per 100 possessions) and fourth in the opposing 3-point percentage (32.3%).
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