The Los Angeles Lakers caught themselves a bit of a break on Saturday. Now all that’s left for them to do is take advantage of the opportunity they’ve been given as the Utah Jazz have decided to rest several of their key players, having them join Donovan Mitchell on the Jazz bench for Saturday afternoon’s meeting.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news that the Jazz would rest Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors in their Saturday afternoon matinee at Staples Center. Mitchell injured his ankle on Friday afternoon in a Jazz win over the Indiana Pacers. An MRI revealed no structural damage in the ankle, according to Woj.
The Jazz may also have another motivation at play, other than keeping their stars healthy. With the Lakers currently only a half-game ahead of the 6th place Blazers, the Jazz likely don’t want to see the Lakers fall further down the standings and potentially risk playing them in the first round of the playoffs, when Anthony Davis and LeBron James are both expected to be ready to go.
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