Lakers vs Jazz Preview: Please Sit Kobe

Jan 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) guards Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Brown (3) in the first quarter of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) guards Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Brown (3) in the first quarter of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Lakers play the Jazz for the second time this week, but  needs to sit this one out

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz will face off for the second time in the past week, this matchup taking place on the road for the Lakers inside Vivint Smart Home Arena. For the sake of the sanity of both fan-bases, though, everyone has to be hoping that Saturday night’s action will be a little more riveting than the debacle that was their meeting this past Sunday.

The Jan. 10 matchup between these two yielded just a combined 160 points as both teams couldn’t find any kind of offensive groove. However, it was Utah that ultimately prevailed on the road. Now the Lakers will be looking to keep that trend going and pick up a road win of their own.

However, more than putting themselves in a position to win, the Lakers have to be looking out for the purpose of this season. The front office has gone as far as to flat-out say that they are largely abandoning the development of players like Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell as a priority in favor of serving Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour giving his impending retirement. But that farewell tour is going to end prematurely if it continues in this manner.

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Kobe has been playing a ludicrous amount of minutes all season for a player at 37 years old that has logged the number of miles that he has over his career and that has the recent injury history that he does. That’s been evidenced by the fact that he’s currently dealing with both a sore shoulder and sore Achilles. However, he played through those injuries earlier in the week against the Golden State Warriors and even came back in when the game was out of reach for LA.

The Lakers still have one more game in Utah after this and, subsequently, Kobe should be in a suit and not in uniform for Saturday night’s contest.

Hopefully that happens and the likes of Anthony Brown can be put into the fold in relief. With Brown getting those minutes and with Tarik Black likely getting run again for the injured Brandon Bass, this game has the potential for the young Lakers to show some things. Whether or not they do that and whether or not Kobe sits out like he should still remains to be seen, though.

Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz

Date: Saturday, Jan. 16
Start Time: 6 p.m. PT
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Arena: Vivint Smart Home Arena
TV Info: TWC Sportsnet
Live Stream: NBA League Pass
Radio: Here

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Jazz -7.5
Moneyline: Jazz -345, Lakers +280
O/U: 191

Injury Report

Los Angeles Lakers: Brandon Bass (foot)—Out, Kobe Bryant (shoulder, Achilles)—Questionable, Julius Randle (foot)—Probable

Utah Jazz: Alec Burks (fibula)—Out, Dante Exum (ACL)—Out, Derrick Favors (back)—Game-Time Decision, Trevor Booker (concussion)—Day-to-Day

Next: Midseason Grades for the Lakers Entire Roster

Prediction

It’s hard for this game to be uglier than their meeting less than a week ago and I don’t expect that it will be. Hopefully the Lakers play this one smartly by sitting Kobe Bryant out, which actually plays to their strengths with Anthony Brown defending Gordon Hayward rather than Bryant. With the young guys being put more in control, I think the Lakers pull this one out, for better or worse.

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