Jazz at Lakers
The red-hot Utah Jazz try for their eighth straight victory when they visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. Utah, which will wind up no worse than fifth in the Western Conference, is one game behind Portland for fourth place - and home court advantage in the first round - but must finish ahead of the Trail Blazers to get the No. 4 seed because they lost three of five in the season series.
The Jazz have won 12 of their last 13 games after Friday's 119-98 victory over Sacramento featured 23 points and nine assists by fill-in point guard Donovan Mitchell. Ricky Rubio, Utah's usual point guard, left Friday's contest in the first quarter with a quad injury after missing Wednesday's 118-97 victory at Phoenix (hamstring). “He was nothing short of amazing. That kid works so hard and relentlessly at his craft every day,” Jazz forward Georges Niang told reporters about Mitchell. “… I gotta give the kid a lot of credit. I’m happy for him, I know how hard he works, and it’s just super-awesome for him to get out there and contribute and be successful.” The Lakers are coming off a 122-117 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday as second-year guard Alex Caruso recorded his first career double-double in his second start of the season.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), Spectrum Sportsnet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (49-30): Rookie guard Grayson Allen scored a career-high 23 points Friday and has 37 in his last two games after totaling 127 in his first 33 contests. Mitchell leads the club in scoring (23.5 points) while Rudy Gobert (15.7 points, 12.9 rebounds) has recorded eight straight double-doubles and 13 in his last 14 games. Derrick Favors (back) and Kyle Korver (knee) have each missed the last three games while Raul Neto (ankle) did not play Friday as all three are questionable to play Sunday.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (36-44): Caruso recorded career highs of 32 points and 10 rebounds while adding five assists and is averaging 19.8 points and 6.0 assists in his last four games. "I've been doing this in G League for the last year and a half and I've had my coaches down there just tell me to play confident, play the way I do," the former Texas A&M star told reporters. "I'm finally just finding that groove and I'm confident and I'm comfortable. It's taken me three years to get to this point out of college." Kyle Kuzma (18.7 points) is expected to miss his fifth straight game with tendinitis in his left foot.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Gobert is second in the league in total rebounds (1,021) and blocks (183).
2. Los Angeles has exceeded last season's win total of 35, improving for the third straight season after going 17-65 in 2015-16 and 26-56 in 2016-17.
3. Utah prevailed in the last two meetings by a combined 33 points and has won nine of 10 encounters since 2016-17.