LLeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers (9-7 SU, 6-10 ATS) are starting to look like contenders. The jury is still out on the Utah Jazz (8-9 SU and ATS). They’ll lock horns this Friday at Staples Center; NBA-TV has the tip-off at 10:30 PM ET.
The Lakers have won five of their last six games at 3-3 ATS after getting off to a slow start in LeBron’s LA debut. James scored 51 points in his last outing, Sunday’s 113-97 win over his former employers, the Miami Heat (+1.5 at home). However, point guard Rajon Rondo broke his right hand last week and isn’t expected to return until sometime in December after undergoing successful surgery.
Utah are fully healthy at this point, but they’ve split their last six games SU and ATS as they continue to struggle at both ends of the court. Rookie of the Year runner-up Donovan Mitchell isn’t playing at quite the same level as a sophomore, hitting just 29.3% from downtown. Ricky Rubio (a career-low 35.2%) is also having difficulty from long range. As a result, the Jazz have a minus-2.5 point differential on the season, well below the Lakers at plus-1.2.
