Two home games and two convincing wins for the Los Angeles Lakers and although things look great on paper, there are still things they can improve. One of this is the play of Luka Doncic who is shooting just 38% from the field and has committed 6 and 11 turnovers in those games. Good things will happen when the ball finds the open man and that’s exactly what has transpired for LA in the wins over Golden State and the Clippers. They’ve recorded 28 and 29 assists respectively; this ranks them tied for 4th most in the league right now. Those numbers will be put to the test on Sunday by the Jazz who allow the 5th lowest amount of assists per game. Last season LA swept the series, they’ve lost just once to this team over the past two seasons.
After a disappointing season opener in Memphis, the Jazz finally settled down and recorded their first win of the season taking down the Pelicans on Friday in Salt Lake City. Despite being favored by 5.5 points, the Jazz barely scraped out a 1-point win thanks to solid execution on the defensive end late in the game. One thing that cannot be overstated enough is their lack of size on the interior. This was evident against the Grizzlies in game one and although they won the rebounding battle against New Orleans, they cannot wait to get Jusuf Nurkic back from injury. Sunday sees former Jazz Walker Kessler return to the crime scene as a member of the Lakers, Utah could definitely use his double-digit rebounding average he posted in the past two seasons for them.
High scoring has been the hallmark of recent meetings between these two teams in recent meetings. Dating back to the 2022-23 season we’ve seen at least 230 points scored 13 times in 15 meetings, while last season 2 of the 4 meetings saw 278 and 266 points. No real option at the center position will force the Jazz to run here, the Lakers will gladly take on that challenge. I’m backing the over.
Lakers vs Jazz Predictions: Over 236.5 Points is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
