Game 80: 04/08/18 Jazz at Lakers GAME THREAD

Game 80: 04/08/18 Jazz at Lakers GAME THREAD

Postby KobeMVP888 » Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:06 am

(46-33)Image at Image(34-45)

Sunday, April 8, 2018, 3:00 PM PDT
Staples Center • Los Angeles, CA

Referees: Scott Foster (#48), Matt Boland (#18), Sean Corbin (#33)

Replay Center: Brian Forte, Tre Maddox, James Williams

Line: Jazz -7.5

Local TV: Spectrum SportsNet

Image

GAME PREVIEW: JAZZ AT LAKERS


by NBA.com

How tight is the Western Conference race?

The Utah Jazz haven't clinched a postseason berth, but they can still finish as high as third in the West if they win their final three games.

Utah will get its first chance to clinch a playoff spot when it visits the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Sunday evening.

The Jazz (46-33) have won four in a row following their 117-95 victory against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night. If they can beat the Lakers and win against the visiting Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, they can finish third in the West with a win in Portland in the regular-season finale Wednesday.

The Portland Trail Blazers were in the driver's seat for the third seed in the West, but lost at the San Antonio Spurs 116-105 on Saturday night.

The Lakers (34-45) are in a much different position than the Jazz. They're limping to the finish line with three games left.

Los Angeles rookie point guard Lonzo Ball has been upgraded to questionable against Utah after missing the past five games with a left knee bruise, and forward Kyle Kuzma is also listed as questionable after sustaining an ankle sprain Friday night against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.

Kuzma is second on the team in scoring (16.1) along with forward Brandon Ingram, who will miss his fifth straight game while in the NBA concussion protocol.

Lakers power forward Julius Randle continues his torrid pace, however.

He had 20 points and 10 rebounds against Minnesota for his 12th double-double in the past 16 games. Randle had his best game of the season at the free throw line against the Timberwolves, making all 10 of his attempts to account for half his points.

"I think his willingness to continue to grow as a player is really impressive." Lakers coach Luke Walton said after the loss to Minnesota. "He's so dominant physically, and he's had so much success recently, I feel like if he wanted to, he could put his head down, get to the rim and score 30 points a night."

Randle's most glaring weakness has been turnovers. He has given the ball back on 13.2 percent of the team's possessions this season and had five turnovers in the loss to the Timberwolves.

"We're asking more of him as far as him being a playmaker," Walton said. "Teams are collapsing, so we want him making the extra pass out and slow down a little bit so he can read defenses more. I think he's done a really nice job of trying that. Sometimes it's been great, other times we've had some turnovers because of it. It's part of his growth as a player and his willingness to continue to try to do that is a nice characteristic for your players to have."

Randle came up one assist shy of his second triple-double of the season when Los Angeles played the Jazz on Tuesday in Utah, finishing with 12 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.


http://www.nba.com/games/20180408/UTALAL#/preview

http://www.nba.com/games/20180408/UTALAL#/matchup
I LOVE BASKETBALL! GO LAKERS! #18 COMIN' UP STRONG!!! TOO EASY, JUST WAAAAY TOO EASY!!!!! NEXT! :rollyellow:
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Re: Game 80: 04/08/18 Jazz at Lakers GAME THREAD

Postby 3Peatkb24 » Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:38 am

I think the Jazz along with the Pacers are the 2 most surprising teams in the league. Both were picked to do very little by ESPN as a whole, NBA Network, and the TNT guys. Pacers were projected at 32 wins and they have 47, Jazz were actually projected to win 30 games and they have 46. Jazz will probably win this game because they haven't clinched a Playoff spot yet. At this point I am just ready for 1-2-3 Cancun for the Lakers with only 3 games left "lol4:
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Re: Game 80: 04/08/18 Jazz at Lakers GAME THREAD

Postby 3Peatkb24 » Mon Apr 09, 2018 1:35 am

2 games to go, then we can start speculating what Magic and Rob will do in the offseason. This offseason is very important to the teams future because of Randle's contract and what we do in Free Agency. I am still going to enjoy the Playoffs like I do every year eventhough we aren't in it. I have rooting interest = Pacers and in the West I am pulling for the Blazers. Both small market teams that have had Very Good years. Pacers are 48-33 in 5th(East), Blazers 48-32 in 3rd(West) as of now. I wouldn't mind seeing the Jazz win a Playoff series either, that team is at 4th(West) with a 47-33 record. I am not a Rockets fan or a Harden fan but if they won it all, I would be ok with it. Sick of LeBron and if the Rockets won, it would disrupt the Warriors Dynasty as well.
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Re: Game 80: 04/08/18 Jazz at Lakers GAME THREAD

Postby KobeMVP888 » Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:49 am

I went yesterday only because it was my last game to see Scott and share a nice meal before the game. This Lakers team "as currently constructed" (i.e., sans Lonzo, Ingram, Kuzma, Isaiah), was not going to beat a Jazz team jockeying for the #3 seed. So we went, we saw, we left. Next!
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