The standings no longer matter at this point, unless you’re hoping for a slight improvement on the Lakers draft odds, but the Lakers continue to feel something they haven’t for most of the year in the season’s final week: joy.
The Los Angeles Lakers won their second straight game against a playoff-bound team, following Friday’s win over the Clippers with a 113-109 win over the Utah Jazz. It was a game that the Jazz needed to keep any hope of having home court in the first round of the playoffs.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a great game with 32 points, six assists and six rebounds while JaVale McGee made clutch baskets in the final minutes to finish with 22 points and eight rebounds. Friday’s hero Alex Caruso contributed 18 points and recently signed Jemerrio Jones snagged a game-high 16 rebounds.
The Jazz, normally a great defensive team, surrendered an offensive rating of 118 to the Lakers who only played with two of their top-10 scorers (Caldwell-Pope, McGee) on the season. With the loss, the Jazz are two games behind 4th place Portland. A Portland win in their final two games or a Utah loss on Tuesday to the Nuggets would mean the Jazz start the postseason on the road.
As for the LeBron James, he enjoyed the show and mostly enjoyed Alex Caruso’s ambitious attempted dunk on Utah’s Rudy Gobert. His agent and buddy Rich Paul was also spotted courtside with likely top draft pick Cam Reddish.
