The Los Angeles Lakers take the floor again on Monday night against the Utah Jazz, whom they beat in overtime on Saturday afternoon. With only 15 games remaining in the season, the Lakers are just 1 and 1/2 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the 4th seed in the Western Conference and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
While its been said by everyone with a microphone in the basketball world that playing on the road is an obstacle for everyone but the Lakers, playing at home is still the preferred option for any team. Especially for a team with two superstars returning from injury who led the Lakers to a championship less than six months ago in the bubble.
The Jazz will have Gobert and Conley in the lineup, but this is still a winnable game for the Lakers.
The lines, courtesy of BetMGM
- Point spread: Jazz -6.5
- Money line: Jazz -250 / Lakers +200
- Over-under: 214.5
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Advice and prediction
Conley and Gobert bring an added dimension of competence on both ends for the Jazz in tonight’s game. However, the Lakers have demonstrated a consistent level of defense that keeps them in almost any game. Also, one of their biggest struggles on Saturday was dealing with the shooting of Ersan Ilyasova at center. If Gobert is in the line-up, while he’s miles better than Ilyasova overall, it might be a better match-up for the big Lakers.
Take the Lakers and ride the money line. The Jazz are the better team but the Lakers being at home and having more to play for is why I’m leaning Lake Show again.
Prediction: Lakers 111, Jazz 107