The Utah Jazz (36-21) visit the Los Angeles Lakers (26-31) in the late tip for ESPN this Wednesday evening. Utah has won six games in a row but lost to the Lakers a month ago in their only meeting of the season. Below, we’ll take a look at the NBA odds and how you should be wagering over today. Let’s begin.
Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Wednesday, February 16, 2022 – 10:00 PM EST at Crypto.com Arena
The Jazz (26-30-1 ATS) are a 4.5-point favorite over the Lakers (25-32 ATS) at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks. The Lakers are not playing winning basketball these days, but seven of their last eight games were decided by eight or fewer points, including two straight losses by two points. Can they upset the Jazz again?
January 17 Recap: Lakers 101, Jazz 95
When these teams met a month ago, it was an ugly offensive performance for both. Utah shot 37.3% from the field, its second-worst game of the season. Utah star guard Donovan Mitchell tied his season-low with 13 points and finished 0-for-8 from three, his only game this season without a made three.
Jordan Clarkson is one of the best bench players in the league, but he shot 2-of-13 that night and was held to six points. Mike Conley was Utah’s only player to hit 20 points. The Lakers did not have Anthony Davis and trailed going into the fourth quarter, but they still had LeBron James, who finished with a team-high 25 points.
He got help in the fourth from Stanley Johnson, who had 10 points in a surprise performance off the bench. Utah should feel good about a rematch with the Lakers even with Davis available this time.
The Jazz shouldn’t shoot so poorly again, Mitchell won’t go ice cold from three again, Johnson was a flash-in-the-pan moment for the Lakers, and center Rudy Gobert is back from injury after returning in a blowout win over Houston on Monday night.
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Gobert played a season-low 21:57 in that game as it was a 34-point rout and the team was easing him back into action but look for him to play more and defend an inconsistent Davis, who has failed to crack 18 points or eight rebounds in his last two games.
However, Davis has had success in the past against Gobert, including a 42-point game in 2020. But there is a reason Davis’ nickname is “Street Clothes” as injuries have kept him out of the last four games with Utah.
Recent Play: Sweet Jazz, Sour Lakers
Utah is not thriving as well as the team that won 52 games to get the top seed in the conference last year, but the Jazz is up to the No. 4 seed thanks to a six-game winning streak with the last five wins coming by at least nine points.
The Jazz averages the most points per game in the NBA (114.0) and is No. 1 in Offensive Rating. The defense is still in the top 10 and has held the last five opponents to under 44% shooting. The Lakers shot 44.2% in last month’s matchup.
The Jazz has outshot 64.9% of their opponents this season compared to 50.9% for the Lakers. Russell Westbrook’s poor shooting for the Lakers has become fodder for memes and viral moments. But even with Westbrook reverting to a third wheel behind James and Davis, the Lakers are still not winning games.
LeBron’s comeback against the Knicks was a nice outcome, but the Lakers have lost their last three games anyway. He is averaging 27.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 7.7 assists over the last three games, but the Lakers were still a minus-41 with him on the court.
The Lakers survived stretches without James and Davis last year thanks to playing strong defense. That has disappeared this season as the Lakers rank 15th in Defensive Rating. Over the last 15 games when the Lakers have gone 5-10, they are No. 18 in Defensive Rating (Utah is No. 8). Combine that with a disappointing offense and bad rebounding metrics, and you get a team that is 26-31 and not a playoff contender at this point.
Prediction
The Lakers had three days of rest for this game, which should help the veteran legs on this team, but they are only 8-10 ATS with a rest advantage this season. Since losing to the Lakers, the Jazz has had a five-game road losing streak. The win over Utah is arguably the most quality win of the season for the struggling Lakers.
Los Angeles is 9-17 ATS and 8-18 SU against teams ranked in the top 15 in Net Rating this season. Utah (plus-7.2) is currently No. 2 in Net Rating. I think the Jazz shake off their recent road woes and continue playing well as they have during the win streak and get a cover over the Lakers for your NBA picks this Wednesday.
NBA Pick: Jazz -4.5 (-110) with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
