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KEY POINTS
- The Lakers are determined ramp up their drive with the regular season slowly coming to a close
- The Jazz will have their hands full snapping their two-game losing streak against the Lakers
- The Lakers can catch up with the Clippers and Warriors with a win over the Jazz
Every win counts for the Los Angeles Lakers, who are moving up the Western Conference, as they visit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, April 4 at the Vivint Arena.
The Lakers are -8 favorites to win over the Jazz according to USA Today, with the moneyline set for this matchup being -322 for Los Angeles and +256 for Utah.
Furthermore, the Lakers can finally get their first win of the regular season with a win over the Jazz on Tuesday.
Utah won their first two encounters, the last of which was in November by way of 139-116 routing.
But as most know, a lot has changed for the Purple and Gold. With a retooled cast, the Lakers have shown that they can pull off wins even with their main stars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis being in tip-tip condition
The Lakers are on a four-game winning run and could record their fifth with a win over their Western Conference rival.
A win would also allow the Lakers to catch up with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.
In their latest win over the Houston Rockets, Davis dropped 40 points and collared nine rebounds.
Backing him up were James and Austin Reaves who had 18 points each.
Meanwhile, James finished with a triple-double, dishing off 11 assists and pulling down 10 rebounds.
“We always say we want to get stronger as the season gets longer and be playing our best basketball at the right time,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham stated in a report by ESPN. “Well, the time is definitely right and everybody’s in a good rhythm starting with (Davis) first and foremost. He understands wholeheartedly what we need him to do and he’s coming out and trying to do that.”
On the other hand, the woes continue for the Jazz whose postseason hopes are slowly fading as they dropped their last assignment to the Brooklyn Nets—their second-straight loss.
Talen Horton-Tucker led the way with 32 points and eight assists, while Lauri Markkanen added 23 markers and nine boards.
“I love the competitiveness,” Jazz coach Will Hardy stated after the game via ESPN. “I thought the guys dug in, stuck with it when they very easily could’ve folded at different times in the game.”
The game starts at 9:00 PM ET, and it will be telecast over ATT Sportsnet Rocky Mountain. Live streaming is also available via fuboTV.
AFP
