LA Lakers vs Utah Jazz Match Preview, Prediction, Betting Spreads & Odds - March 31st, 2022 | NBA Season 2021-22
The Utah Jazz will see an end to their arduous road trip as they head home to host the LA Lakers at Vivint Arena on Thursday.
Coming off their most recent 110-128 loss against the Dallas Mavericks, the LA Lakers found themselves falling out of Play-In contention. They currently have a 31-44 record for the season.
The Utah Jazz also found themselves in murky waters as they came off a 115-121 loss to the LA Clippers. Extending their long losing slide on the road, the sixth-place Jazz found themselves falling to 45-31 on the season.
Thursday's matchup will also be the final meeting between the two sides in the regular-season. While LA enjoy a 2-0 lead, not having their superstars available for the game may allow Utah to prevent a series sweep at home.
Match Details
Fixture - LA Lakers vs Utah Jazz | 2021-22 NBA Season
Date & Time - Thursday, March 31st, 2022; ET (Friday, April 1st, 2022; IST)
Venue - Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
LA Lakers Preview
With only a handful of games left in the regular-season, the LA Lakers find themselves struggling to hold onto a spot to enter the Play-In tournament.
Following their loss against the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers fell out of tenth place as the San Antonio Spurs assumed their position. While the loss itself was bad, the fall to eleventh was far more disappointing.
However, because the Spurs came up short against the Grizzlies down the stretch on Wednesday, the Lakers found themselves back in tenth place with a new lease on life.
Grizzlies pull out the win over the Spurs, so #Lakers are currently back to 10th in the West.
With LeBron James and Anthony Davis both out for the foreseeable future, the Lakers will have to rely on their remaining players to notch a few wins to ensure a spot in the Play-In tournament.
LeBron James has returned to LA for further treatment and evaluation of his ankle injury, the Lakers say. He was ruled out for tomorrow’s game in Utah already.
LA Lakers Predicted Lineup
G - Russell Westbrook | G - Austin Reaves | F - Malik Monk | F - Stanley Johnson | C - Dwight Howard
Utah Jazz Preview
The Utah Jazz are coming off a nightmarish series of games to cap off their six-game road trip. Having lost each of their last five games, the Jazz have fallen drastically down the Western Conference ladder.
Currently in sixth place, the Jazz enjoy a cushion of 2.5 games between themselves and the seventh-placed Minnesota Timberwolves. However, having fallen from third place to sixth place in such a short amount of time may see Utah unravel right before the postseason.
Coming off their most recent loss to the LA Clippers, the Jazz continued to see Donovan Mitchell carry the team without much help. Without Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah has lost a solid contributor and finisher, which has drastically affected their overall performance.
Donovan Mitchell kept it candid after the Jazz's loss to the Clippers last night https://t.co/us3E7sVUn0
However, Utah can still turn things around as they're only half a game behind the Denver Nuggets. Playing at home for four of their next six games, the Jazz will have to establish a winning rhythm right away.
Utah Jazz Predicted Lineup
G - Mike Conley | G - Donovan Mitchell | F - Royce O'Neale | F - Juancho Hernangomez | C - Rudy Gobert
LA Lakers vs Utah Jazz Betting Odds & Spreads
The Jazz have been heavily favored to win this matchup against the Lakers primarily because of their homecourt advantage and a healthier roster.
While Utah will potentially miss Bojan Bogdanovic for this game, LA will be without LeBron James and Anthony Davis for yet another game. The lack of size on the Lakers roster also makes them extremely vulnerable against Utah's big man rotation.
Odds Sourced From: FanDuel SB
LA Lakers vs Utah Jazz Betting Tips
LA Lakers
- The LA Lakers are on a three-game losing streak.
- The Lakers have a defensive rating of 121.2 in the month of March.
- Russell Westbrook is the sole superstar left on LA's roster.
Click here to bet on Russell Westbrook scoring the first basket of the Lakers vs Jazz matchup.
Utah Jazz
- The Utah Jazz have a 26-11 record when playing at home.
- The Jazz have an offensive rating of 116.0 in March.
- Utah records 38.8% of their points from beyond the arc.
Click here to bet on the Jazz beating the Lakers by a margin of 1-10 points.
Lakers vs Jazz Match Predictions
The Utah Jazz should emerge as the winners in this home fixture against the LA Lakers.
Although both sides are on a losing streak and have negative momentum heading into this game, the Jazz still retain homecourt advantage. Additionally, the absence of LeBron James along with Anthony Davis leaves the Lakers devoid of solid contributors on their roster.
While also taking Utah's size into consideration, the Lakers may struggle to secure rebounds and defend against the pick-and-roll. This matchup could result in an easy win for the Jazz.
Click here to register on FanDuel to bet on the outcome of the Lakers vs Jazz game.
Where to watch the Lakers vs Jazz game?
The LA Lakers vs Utah Jazz game will be broadcast nationally on TNT. The game will also be available on the NBA’s League Pass platform. Fans can listen to the game by tuning into KZNS and KSL as well.