NBA Picks and Betting Tips: Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction, 20th November

NLB Staff

19.11.2024 13:32

Jazz v Lakers Prediction

With the Los Angeles Lakers continuing to show their aggressiveness in a new J.J. Reddick system, their hope to continue their hot streak against a struggling Jazz squad is looking to get the first pick in next year’s draft. Seeing that the Lakers have come off a 104-99 victory against New Orleans, they will play a Jazz squad that just lost their 2nd straight game by taking a 116-105 defeat to Los Angeles. This game will happen on November 20th at 9:00 A.M. IST in Crypto Arena of Los Angeles, California. Below are our player props, betting tips, important injuries, and recent head-to-head trends to create an accurate outcome for this game.

Jazz v Lakers Key Betting Tips & Predictions

1. Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers Moneyline Pick

As the money line pick for Los Angeles is -520, this should be taken because this should be a very easy victory for them. Having a backcourt with Austin Reaves and Cam Reddish, this duo should have more points than the one of Keyonte George plus Collin Sexton, even though he is a scoring threat. Having elite forwards in Lebron James and Anthony Davis should dominate the Jazz’s Lauri Markannen and John Collins, while Dalton Knecht should show a lot of rookie prowess as a scorer. Combining all this the Lakers -520 is a great pick and should be their 5th victory in 6 previous matchups vs Utah.

2. Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers Point Spread Pick

As the Lakers have a -10.5 spread in this matchup, this should easily be taken due to the talent differential in this game. With Austin Reaves leading the Lakers squad as one of the quickest guards who can create his shots, his defensive prowess has come up huge too. Being a clutch three-point shooter, he should be able to lockdown Keyonte George on both ends as a much smaller and less efficient guard. With the Lakers having Cam Reddish as shooting guard, he won’t provide them with a scoring output but could limit Collin Sexton’s offensive game. As Sexton has never really been someone who can carry the load on his own, Reddish’s ability to use length will cause the Jazz shooting guard to have a lot worse looks plus not be able to drive in. With the small forward being held down by the young Dalton Knecht, his ability to shoot the three-ball will be a huge advantage over Cody Williams. As Williams hasn’t shown to be a great close-out shooter, Knecht can come off a lot of screens and knock down these shots with ease. Meanwhile, the Lakers should continue to have a huge size positive at power forward with their star Lebron James still being as efficient as ever. Even though he can let up a few points to Lauri Markannen on the defensive end, his great ability to pass and rebound will contribute heavily. Someone who can still finish and knock down shots pretty well, he will be alongside Anthony Davis. The center should have a very easy matchup against John Collins as he continues to be a top scorer and rebounder. Looking at this, the -10.5 spread for Los Angeles looks like a great pick.

3. Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers Over/Under Pick (Total Points)

The over/under in this game is at 229.5 points with both offenses having very good all-around scorers and three-point shooters. As Utah will be led by their power forward as the top scorer, his ability to create from deep and inside has still been very hard to stop this season. Having a solid scoring shooting guard and one of the best backup point guards, this squad will also get a ton of points from their center which is a massive offensive upgrade from the previous one. On the other end, Los Angeles has one of the best scoring and passing point guards that has created a connection with his superstar center. Having a great power forward who can put in shots and drive from anywhere as well, they have one of the best young three and defensive guys at small forward. With their last game combining for 260 points, this matchup should have less scoring but not by a huge amount.

Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers Top Player Props

Lauri Markkanen over 5.5 rebounds at 1.65: As many people would think Lauri Markkanen would get affected by Lebron James strength, this is not true because he provides more length than the Lakers superstar. Someone who has a very underrated trait of fighting for many rebounds and creating tough shots to grab boards, he should continue that in this game as Utah’s key player. For someone who is averaging 6.4 rebounds a night, it is worth taking the over on Markannen in this matchup.

Anthony Davis over 28.5 points at 1.71: Seeing that he can create a mismatch with the much smaller John Collins in this game, Anthony Davis should continue his offensive prowess inside. Also having great mid-range ability and a will to shoot deeper shots, the Lakers star should be able to use his elite core strength to score points from there too. As he is someone who averages 31.1 points a night, Anthony Davis should score above that and have another career night to build his MVP case.

Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers Injury News & Impact

Utah Jazz Injuries: As Walker Kessler was ruled out due to a hip injury once, his 9.2 points and 10.7 rebounds will be missed with Utah having to start more of a shooting-first center in John Collins. Although Collins is a very solid replacement for Kessler as he is an advantage on offense, his defensive game has been a bit suspect and with no Taylor Hendricks at the backup center position, the depth inside could be a big issue.

Los Angeles Lakers Injuries: As this team still doesn’t have a key defender and rebounder in Jarred Vanderbilt, they may not even have Rui Hachimura, 12.7 points plus 6.1 rebounds, during this matchup due to his ankle injury. Being a big loss as someone who can crash the boards, the Lakers will have to run with Dalton Knecht at small forward as someone with a smaller frame. Potentially having Cam Reddish questionable as well, 4.7 points a night, this team’s depth will be in question since backup center Jaxson Hayes has been ruled out due to an ankle injury as well.

Jazz v Lakers Head-to-Head Trends

As the Lakers have dominated this matchup for the most part, they hope to start building on their winning streak vs Utah once again after taking a tough loss two matchups ago. Winning 4 of their last 5 matchups, Los Angeles has dominated the scoring by averaging 131.3 points over their previous 3 games. Being 6-4 against the spread during their last 10 games, the Lakers hope to expand their advantage against Utah and make that record look much stronger.

Betting Insights & Public Trends

Looking at the public trend, 83.9% of the bettors have the Los Angeles Lakers beating the Utah Jazz in this matchup.

Jazz v Lakers Final Prediction

With the Los Angeles Lakers lately being on a role, they should have a lot more stars and high-level players to win this matchup. Being better coached by J.J. Reddick, his mentality of finishing near the point plus taking more threes has developed this into a much better squad on both ends. Looking at their point guard Austin Reaves, his ability to score and create for others has been a huge reason for this team’s recent success. As a great three-point shooter, who has various moves to get through big men in the paint, his matchup against Keyonte George is a huge mismatch. With George having a lot of trouble on defense, his small frame won’t be able to match up well against Reaves whose underrated strength has helped him develop into a top-notch mid-range scorer too. Although George can provide some steady paces of layups through speed, the guard hasn’t shown this consistently against some of the better defenders. As Cam Reddish is tending towards playing in this game, his head-to-head against Collin Sexton of Utah will depend on several factors. Even though Sexton has shown much better driving ability and can finish with ease, Reddish defense has become a key component for why he has been starting over D’Angelo Russell recently. With this going to be a very close matchup that the Jazz’s Sexton will potentially win, it is only one that is 50/50 for both sides in this game.

Looking at the small forward position, as Rui Hachimura will most likely not be playing in this game, Dalton Knecht should continue growing as one of the best shooters in Los Angeles. Showing his hard-nosed defense has already played a massive factor for this squad as it gives some of their stars more energy, Knecht’s ability to knock down the three also takes a lot of pressure off them. As someone who can continue hitting mid-range shots as well, his advantage over Cody Williams will give the Lakers a huge positive at that position. Williams has struggled on both ends of the floor this season and as he can’t seem to get his shots in Knecht should have a much higher chance of grabbing a lot more boards. With the physicality of Lebron James against Lauri Markannen, he should continue providing this Lakers squad with all-around abilities. Being the great passer he is, James can attack him with some of his most famous Euro steps as well. Although Markannen should have an easier time grabbing boards and scoring points against Lebron, if they can switch with Anthony Davis this matchup will look a lot different. Seeing that Davis continues to be one of the best inside scorers as well and can extend his shooting to perimeter areas, John Collins will have a harder time guarding him as a weaker defender than the injured Walker Kessler. Although Collins can provide some scoring, Davis will cause him to have a little worse game due to his elite blocking skills and ability to make smaller big men like Utah’s have tougher looks. As the Lakers do have Gabe Vincent and Max Christie as key bench pieces, the only way the Jazz win this game is if Jordan Clarkson plus Isaiah Collier play a great role on the bench.

Our prediction: Los Angeles Lakers win and cover their -10.5 spread, while the score goes over 229.5 points.