Lakers vs. Jazz: Lakers look to lock up 7th seed, with chance to move up

by Ben Cooper

The Lakers enter their final game of the regular season with a 42-39 record in the Western Conference. They enter today’s contest as the 7th seed, with a chance to move up to the 6th seed if the Warriors lose to the Trail Blazers.

LA can only focus on winning their game and hope for Golden State to drop their remaining game. 

The Lakers will be playing a Jazz team that is 37-44 and sitting out most of their best players. Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, Talen-Horton Tucker, and Rudy Gay are all out for their final contest.

With Utah resting most of their players, LA should be able to take advantage and dominate from start to finish. 

Anthony Davis and LeBron James should feast inside, as the Jazz will be without their top frontcourt players.

Darvin Ham should use this game to get his players in a rhythm and ready for either the play-in tournament or the playoffs. A strong performance would give the team confidence and continuity heading into important games in the postseason.

D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves have been consistent scorers around James and Davis over this stretch run. They should look to continue their play of late in this contest. Russell scored 24 points in Friday’s win, hitting 9-14 shots and 6-9 from three. 

Getting the other role players involved would be great to see in this crucial game heading into the playoffs. Malik Beasley is coming off a game where he had 21 points and was 4-10 from behind the arc.

If the role players can get on a roll along with the stars with the playoffs right around the corner, the Lakers will be in a good position.

Look for the Jazz to be a hungry team with a ton of young players getting an opportunity. It’s important for the Lakers not to take them for granted and dominate this contest to give them much-needed confidence heading into the postseason.

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