Lakers vs. Jazz Odds & Pick: Our Betting Guide To Monday Night’s Game

Lakers vs. Jazz Betting Odds

Odds as of Sunday night and via FanDuel. Get up to a $500 risk-free bet at FanDuel today or see more offers and reviews for the best online sportsbooks.

The Lakers and Jazz each kicked things off Thursday night with a win before coming up short in their follow-up games on Saturday.

Utah is a potential second-round matchup for Los Angeles if they stay in the 4v5 matchup. The Lakers won both matchups earlier this season by nine and 25 points, the latter being one of their better performances of the season on the road.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers are 5.5 games up on the Clippers for the West 1-seed with six games left, so the Lakers have effectively clinched it, leaving them very little to play for. It's reasonable to expect Frank Vogel to keep any potential cards close to the vest in a matchup like this against a potential playoff opponent.

Anthony Davis was a monster in L.A.'s re-opener before getting shut out of the game completely against Toronto, while LeBron James was relatively muted in both. The team seems to be making a concerted effort to get players like Kyle Kuzma and Dion Waiters going, which will help long-term with Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo out, but it comes at the Lakers' expense right now.

The Lakers have been locked in on defense so far, and they have the league's third-best D. They'll have the two best players on the court on Monday night, and their defense could make it really tough for a struggling Jazz offense to score.

Utah Jazz

Utah has one of the biggest missing pieces in the bubble so far, with Bojan Bogdanovic sidelined. The Jazz offense has seriously struggled to put points on the board, with only 99 points per game through two and have gone cold for long stretches in both.

They miss Bojan's scoring in the starting lineup, and his absence has left the bench very barren too as everyone shifts up.

Don't underestimate that Bojan absence. The team shuffled the deck this year to find a better offense at the expense of defensive stalwarts, Ricky Rubio and Derrick Favors. The defense finished just outside the top 10, lower than the offense this season, and now they're struggling to score.

Truth be told, Utah is quite lucky to not be 0-2 and on the ropes in the bubble. The Pelicans gave away a lead late, or else the Jazz might be hitting the panic button a bit. Perhaps they should be anyway.

Betting Analysis & Pick

The Jazz are really going to struggle to score in this one for all the reasons we covered above, including a stingy Lakers defense. The only Jazz player in the bubble to score more than 13 points in either matchup against the Lakers earlier this season was Donovan Mitchell, and he won't be enough on his own.

If I knew the Lakers were going full steam, I'd feel pretty good about an L.A. cover. But the potential lack of motivation could leave the Lakers a little short, or perhaps doing just enough to grab a close win without covering. I'd lean toward Lakers -6 and the under, but I'm not sure either is a good play.

The best bet might just be the Utah team under, which sits at 106.5 right now. The Jazz have gone under that number in both bubble games and went under in both previous season matchups against the Lakers, averaging only 91 points per game.

I love the Jazz team under and would play it as low as 104.5.

The Pick: Jazz Under 106.5 (-110)

[Bet $20+ on the Lakers or Jazz at PointsBet and Win $125 if they make at least one 3-pointer]