The Utah Jazz swept the Los Angeles Lakers in last year’s regular season series and finished with over a dozen more wins than them last season. After keeping nearly their entire roster together in the offseason, one would assume Utah are favorites going into Friday night’s game, right?
Wrong. Through 18 games, the Jazz have struggled to rediscover their form from last season and are 8-10, which is the third-worst record in the Western Conference currently. They’ve lost four of their last five games.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, winning eight of their last 10 games.