The second game featured on ESPN will have Mitchell and the Jazz traveling to Los Angeles to play against the new dynamic duo of LBJ and Davis with the Lakers. Tonight’s game should be a clash of two playoff contenders, so it will give us a rough idea of how legitimate both squads are. The season is still young, but every game matters for the stacked Western Conference.
Utah Jazz (1-0) @ Los Angeles Lakers (0-1)
Utah
Both Conley and Bogdanovic made their Jazz debuts on Wednesday, but the two had underwhelming outcomes. Utah ultimately needs good 3-point shooting to surround Donovan Mitchell with, so they brought in Conley and Bogdanovic. Their first game ended in a 1-11 display from beyond the arc for the duo, which absolutely won’t cut it for the Jazz down the stretch. There’s a great chance that their first game was just an anomaly, so the team should be a much tougher opponent tonight and for future games.
- The Jazz won their first game of the season against the Thunder 100-95.
- Royce O’Neale and Bojan Bogdanovic made good contributions, combining for 30 points on 12-20 (60%)
- Donovan Mitchell carried most of the weight for Utah, finishing with 32 points and 12 rebounds on 14-22 (63.6%) field goal shooting.
- Star acquisition Mike Conley played very poorly in his debut, collecting just 5 points and 5 assists on a dismal 1-16 (6.3%) shooting from the floor and 0-6 from downtown.
- Utah’s bench didn’t provide much offense, with just 26 points from their 5 bench players.
- The Jazz’s biggest weakness was 3-point shooting. As a team, they went 6-24 (25%) from beyond the arc against OKC.
Los Angeles
The long-awaited duo of James and Davis finally got to play a real NBA game together, but it wasn’t pretty at all. The entire Lakers’ offense focused around force-feeding Davis in the post, but it was far less effective than expected. Los Angeles’ offense stagnated as a result, which made it difficult for the Lakers to really do anything. If not for a once-a-season performance from Danny Green, LA would’ve had a much larger margin of deficit than they did. If LeBron continues to defer as hard as he did against the Clippers, the Lakers won’t be a serious contender with this new power duo.
- Los Angeles lost their first game of the season to the Clippers 102-112.
- Danny Green nearly put the Lakers on his back with his 28 points and 7 rebounds on a blistering 10-14 (71.4%) shooting from the field and 7-9 (77.8%) from 3-point range.
- LeBron did not play up to his usual standard, finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists, but with 5 turnovers and just 7-19 (36.8%) shooting, including 1-5 (20%) from downtown.
- Star bigman Anthony Davis had a decent debut with the Lakers, tallying 25 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 Unfortunately, he shot just 8-21 (38.1%) from the field despite the entire offense being funnelled through him and also had 3 turnovers.
- LA had virtually no help from the bench, as their 5 members combined for just 19
- The Laker’s biggest problem lies in the fact that Davis, James, and Green accounted for 71 of the team’s 102 points (69.6%).
Pick: Utah Jazz +3.5
It’s far too early in the season to overreact, but LeBron seemed to be showing signs of age during the Lakers’ first game of the season. He doesn’t have the same explosiveness he once did, which makes it much harder for him to dominate the game like before. The Jazz are an excellent defensive team and now have some stellar shooting to surround young Mitchell with. This match should be a tale of two playoff teams, but this one is a clear pick here. Bet against the spread and choose the Utah Jazz to win tonight.