Lakers get the win over the Jazz; heading to play-in tournament

by Antonio Valle

The Lakers got the win in the regular season finale over the Utah Jazz 128-117. LA finishes the season with a 43-39 record. The team was led by LeBron James who scored 36 points on 8/14 shooting from 3-point range.

Anthony Davis finished the game with a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell also tallied 17 points for the game.

The game had lots of playoff implications going in as the Lakers needed to win in hopes of staying at the 7th spot in the Western Conference. Along with the Lakers, fans had to keep their eyes also focused on the Clippers vs Suns and the Pelicans vs Timberwolves.

The Clippers earned a hard fought win over the shorthanded Suns team and as a result, the LakeShow clinched the 7th spot and will host at least one play-in game. With the Timberwolves getting the win over the Pelicans, the Lakers will host Minnesota on Tuesday night with the winner earning the 7th seed and will face the Memphis Grizzlies.

LA shot extremely well from the 3-point line today as the team shot 40% converting 18/45 attempts.

There were still moments during the game where the team fell flat and the Jazz kept themselves in the game. This cannot happen during the playoffs because every team plays differently when it comes to the postseason.

This will be the Lakers’ second time in the play-in tournament in the last three seasons. This will be the first time this squad will be together in the postseason and they are currently riding on a hot streak of winning 9 of their last 11 games.

This has been a different team since the trade deadline. The depth of this team has been huge because earlier in the season there were multiple times where they were getting scrutinized for their rotations. Now arguably the Lakers have the deepest team in the league.

They will go into Tuesday’s matchup against the Timberwolves at full strength. The Timberwolves will most likely be without Jaden McDaniels, who left the game with a fractured right hand. McDaniels injured his hand when he punched a wall in the tunnel.

McDaniels wasn’t the only person for Minnesota to leave the game. During a timeout Kyle Anderson and Rudy Gobert were involved in a heated discussion that ended up with Gobert throwing a punch at Anderson. Minnesota then sent Gobert home for the rest of the game.

The Lakers also made some acquisitions for their playoff run as they signed Shaq Harrison and Tristan Thompson. Davon Reed was placed on waivers as a result of these two signings.

The Lakers roster is healthy as they roll into the playoffs and that is key if this team wants to make a huge run in the postseason. It all starts on Tuesday against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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