The Los Angeles Lakers roll into this game in Salt Lake City at 18-7, trying to stack wins on a road swing while cleaning up some very real defensive slippage.
The Utah Jazz are 10-15, but they’ve been way more competitive lately than their record suggests, winning five of their last eight and playing with actual confidence on offense.
It’s also the third meeting between these teams already. The Lakers took the first two, and they’re chasing the season sweep vibe before the schedule turns brutal again.
The headline on the Lakers’ side is simple: the offense can hang with anybody because Luka Doncic is basically breaking the scoreboard every night, leading the league at 34.7 points per game with 8.8 assists and 8.7 rebounds.
The problem is the other end. The Lakers have allowed 120 or more points in four of their last five games, even while still winning, which is exactly how you end up sweating games you should control.
For the Jazz, this is the Keyonte George show right now. He’s at 23.5 points and 6.8 assists on the season, and he’s jumped to 26.5 points and 6.5 assists per game in December, which matches the eye test. If he’s cooking early, the Jazz can absolutely make this a track meet.
Injury Report
Lakers
Austin Reaves: Out (left calf strain)
Deandre Ayton: Out (left elbow soreness)
Bronny James: Out (G League, on assignment)
Gabe Vincent: Questionable (low back soreness)
Maxi Kleber: Probable (lumbar muscle strain)
Jazz
Elijah Harkless: Out (G League, two-way)
Walker Kessler: Out (left shoulder injury recovery)
Georges Niang: Out (left foot, fourth metatarsal stress reaction)
Lauri Markkanen: Questionable (right groin injury management)
Deandre Ayton and Austin Reaves being out matters. Ayton has already missed time this season, and Jaxson Hayes is the likely next man up, with Kleber also available if needed.
Lauri Markkanen’s status is the swing piece for the Jazz. He’s been outstanding all year at 27.8 points and 7.0 rebounds, and he just came off a huge 33-point, 16-rebound performance against the Mavericks.
Why The Lakers Have The Advantage
The Lakers’ advantage starts with top-end creation. Doncic is a cheat code, and when he’s paired with LeBron James as a secondary organizer, the Lakers can manufacture good looks even when the possession gets messy.
LeBron’s overall season line sits at 17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 7.2 assists, but he’s been more efficient recently, shooting over 47% in his last three games and popping a season-high 29 against the 76ers.
Even with Reaves out, the Lakers still have more reliable shot creation than the Jazz over a full 48 minutes. That matters because the Jazz defense still gives up plenty. The Jazz can score, but they’ve struggled getting stops, and the Lakers should be able to find matchup advantages if they stay patient.
The second edge is focus and urgency on defense. This matchup is basically a test of whether the Lakers can actually respond to JJ Redick’s push for more consistent effort on that end.
The third edge is that even with Ayton out, the Lakers can still win the possession game if they rebound like they did last time out. They had a 54-37 rebounding advantage against the Suns, and that kind of margin changes the math fast. If they bring that same physicality, it keeps the Jazz from living off second chances and transition spurts.
Why The Jazz Have The Advantage
The Jazz advantage is that their offense can get loud in a hurry, and the Lakers have been vulnerable to exactly that lately.
If the Lakers keep giving up 120-point nights, a team like the Jazz is fully capable of turning it into a scoring contest where momentum matters more than talent gaps. Keyonte George has already had multiple explosion games recently, and the Jazz are playing with that freedom that makes under .500 teams annoying: they shoot, they run, they don’t tighten up early.
And if Markkanen plays, the matchup gets a lot scarier for the Lakers’ frontcourt rotation. He’s not just a scorer, he’s the kind of size and shooting combo that forces defensive choices.
There’s also the emotional angle of the season series. The Jazz have already dropped two to the Lakers, so this is the “prove it” spot. They’re at home, they’re playing better basketball lately, and if they can jump out early, it immediately puts pressure on a Lakers team that has had a habit of letting teams back into games.
Jazz vs. Lakers Prediction
This one comes down to two questions.
Can the Lakers actually defend for four quarters, not two and a half? And can the Jazz generate enough stops to keep their offense from having to be perfect?
I’m leaning Lakers, because the record gap is real and the star power gap is real, especially with Doncic driving everything. But it won’t feel comfortable if the defense stays leaky, and if Markkanen plays, the Jazz have a real shot to drag this into a late-game shootout.
Prediction: Lakers 121, Jazz 114
