Getty Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell
The Los Angeles Lakers look to extend a two-game winning streak with star forward LeBron James still sidelined. They’ll have a tall task to do so on Friday night, as they head to Utah to face a Jazz team with quite a bit of talent. Both teams have looked good at points this year while also disappointing in other spots.
On the Lakers side, they’ve now played eight games without James, and prior to the two wins had posted a 1-5 record. Los Angeles enters the matchup with a 23-19 record and currently holding the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Just behind them in the standings is the Jazz at 21-21.
Utah is battling their own injury bug, as they’re without three point guards in Ricky Rubio, Raul Neto and Dante Exum for this game. In turn, it’s expected that second-year guard Donovan Mitchell will run the point Friday.
Let’s take a look at the current betting line and odds on this matchup while also offering a prediction on the game.
Lakers vs. Jazz Betting Line & Projected Total
All odds courtesy of Odds Shark and Bovada
- Utah Jazz: -8 (-110), opened at -9
- Over/Under: 215 (-110), opened at 217
There hasn’t been much movement on this line or total, and it seems the public is pretty torn on the overall outlook of this game. As Odds Shark shows, there’s an even split between the Lakers and Jazz when it comes to the spread while the over is receiving a bit more love with 55 percent of the action.
On the season, the Lakers have a 19-23 record against the spread while the Jazz is 21-20-1 to this point. Utah is also 10-7 ATS when playing in front of their home fans, so while their home record isn’t incredible, they’ve been covering on their own floor more often than not.
Lakers vs. Jazz Prediction & Pick
The Lakers and Jazz have already met once this season, back on November 23, 2018 in a game played in Utah. LeBron and company left that game with a 90-83 victory, snapping a seven-game winning streak for the Jazz, as Land of Basketball shows. So while the James-led Lakers were able to snap that skid, it’s unknown how the current roster will look in this matchup.
In somewhat of a surprising stat, the Jazz, who have a strong homecourt advantage in most instances, are only 9-8 in their own arena this season. On the opposite side, the Lakers have posted a 9-11 record away from home. That won’t factor into this decision all that much, and it’s worth noting that both teams had a night off prior to this game.
The Lakers have played well in the past two games, but heading to Utah will be a tall task. I don’t expect the Jazz to run away with this game early, but I do think they’ll pull ahead late and extend their lead to double-digits before the final buzzer. This team is 7-2 against the spread in their last nine at home, and I’ll take the record to move to 8-2 by nights end.
Pick: Utah Jazz -8
Overall Record: 4-0 (Previous night’s picks: Heat, Nuggets)
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