Lakers (18–7) vs. Jazz (10–15) | Game 26 of 82
Where to Watch and What Time
📅 Date: Thursday, Dec. 18
⏰ Tip-off: 6:00 p.m. PST
📍 Location: Delta Center — Salt Lake City, Utah
📺 TV: Spectrum SportsNet
📻 Radio: ESPN LA 710 / 1330 KWKW
The Los Angeles Lakers are set for their 15th road game of the season against the Utah Jazz after outlasting the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night without Austin Reaves in the starting lineup.
Reaves remains out (till next week with a calf strain), along with starting center Deandre Ayton (left elbow soreness) and backup guard Gabe Vincent, who the team announced Thursday morning will be out at least a week with lower back tightness.
The Lakers sit at 18-7 (No. 3 in the West) and 11-3 on the road with six wins in their last seven road games.
The Jazz have won two straight for 10th in the West with a 10-15 record and will be without their best player, Lauri Markkanen, due to a groin injury. Utah is 7-7 at home this season and after losing four straight games in late Nov., they have won five of their last eight games since.
This will be the third matchup this season between the two, with L.A. getting the best of Utah in the first two contests, which were back-to-back games in a six-day span at each homecourt.
The Lakers will look to Luka Dončić and LeBron James in Utah, who led the way as the team’s scoring leaders against the Suns. The two combined for 55 points but struggled to take care of the ball, with 14 of the team’s 22 turnovers. An issue that will have to be cleaned up in Utah.
The Opponent and their Top Dogs
With Markkanen sidelined, the Jazz will expect a strong showing from their backcourt duo of Keyonte George and rookie Ace Bailey.
In two games against the Lakers, George has averaged 30.5 points and eight assists while shooting 39% from 3. Look for him to continue his surge against L.A. with 27.8 points a game in Markkanen out.
He is coming off a 39-point showing and a 37-point performance in Utah’s last two games.
Notable Opponent Ranks Among the NBA
The Jazz have the 19th-rated (113.6) offense and second-worst-rated (120.5) defense in the NBA. Here are some notable (good and meh) rankings of where they sit among the league.
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2nd in the NBA in assists per contest (29.8)
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No. 1 in assist percentage in the NBA (71.6%)
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9th in points per contest (119)
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6th in FGA per contest (90.9)
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22nd in FG% (45.8%)
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23rd in 3P% (34.4%)
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7th in free-throw percentage (81%)
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3rd highest in turnovers a game (16.2)
The Lakers announced early Thursday morning that Gabe Vincent will miss at least a week due to lower back tightness. He’s already missed 11 games this season and with four games in the week, he could end up, at the end of the week, missing more games than he’s played (14 games) so far this season.
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Gabe Vincent (lower back tightness): Out
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Austin Reaves (calf strain): Out
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Deandre Ayton (elbow soreness): Out
The Lakers will rock their purple statement edition threads on the road, while the Jazz will wear their new white Association unis.
The Lakers will travel back to L.A. for a “road” game down south in Inglewood against the woeful Clippers on Saturday, who have been disappointing this season with a 6-20 record.
