Jazz vs Lakers Predictions, Player Props, Injuries & Best Odds for Doncic Debut

• Luka Doncic is likely to make his debut for the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night against the Utah Jazz
• The Lakers have won five straight games to climb to fifth in the West
• See the Jazz vs Lakers predictions, player props, and best odds for Doncic, LeBron, and more

The moment everyone in Laker Nation has been waiting for has finally arrived. On Monday night, Luka Doncic is poised to make his debut in purple and gold when his Los Angeles Lakers (31-19, 18-6 home, 27-22-1 ATS) host the bottom-dwelling Utah Jazz (12-39, 7-21 away, 26-25 ATS) at crypto.com Arena at 7:40 pm PT/10:40 pm ET. There could be some awkward moments on the court for the Lakers, who tried to trade Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish to the Hornets on the weekend for center Mark Williams. But Williams failed his physical and the trade fell through, leaving LAL without a true center post-Anthony Davis. Despite an inevitably small lineup, the Lakers are favored by as many as 13 points in Monday’s NBA odds.

UTah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers Predictions

• Jazz +13.0 (-110) at bet365 or Caesars
• Doncic under 7.5 assists (-130) at FanDuel
  

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These likely aren’t the bets that most people want to see on here: the Jazz to cover the spread and a Doncic under. But I’m not here to make friends.

The 25-year-old Doncic was averaging 28.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 7.8 APG with Dallas before the megatrade that shook the very foundations of the league. Now he joins a Lakers group in which LeBron James is averaging 9.0 assists per game, the third-highest mark of his legendary career. On top of that, two-guard Austin Reaves has made big strides as a play-maker the last two seasons, averaging 5.5 APG last year and upping that to 6.1 APG this year.

In other words, the Lakers don’t lack for players to run the point, and it’s hard to envision Doncic – with a less-than-100% calf and little familiar with the offense or his teammates – coming in and immediately playing the role of distributor.

I’m backing the Jazz to cover the spread because their strengths are, at least on paper, the Lakers’ weaknesses. Utah sits fourth in the NBA in REB% at 51.7% and stands a good chance of dominating the glass against a Los Angeles that just dealt its leading rebounder, Anthony Davis (11.9 RPG), and still hasn’t picked up a front-court replacement. Doncic’s 8.3 RPG immediately jump to top of LA’s stats page.

The Jazz will be missing point guard Collin Sexton (18.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 4.1 APG), which is a big blow. But with a pair of seven-footers on the court in Lauri Markkanen (19.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG) and Walker Kessler (11.2 PPG, 11.9 RPG), Utah should be able to outscore the Lakers in the paint by a sizable margin.

UTAH vs LAL Injury Reports

Both Doncic and James were listed as questionable for tonight’s game this morning, but Doncic was later upgraded to probable.

It’s unclear what’s happening with Knecht and Reddish at this point. Both are clearly on the trade block but technically still Lakers for now. Reddish is listed as out while Knecht is questionable.

Jazz vs Lakers Player Props

Doncic and James are two players who stuff almost every column of the stat sheet and they have remarkably similar over/unders on Monday night. Doncic has the highest point total at 26.5, one higher than LeBron. They both have rebound and assist totals of 7.5, the second-highest on the board in both categories

Jazz center Walker Kessler (11.2 PPG, 11.9 RPG) has the highest rebound total at 10.5 while point guard Isaiah Collier (6.4 PPG, 5.6 APG), who’s been thrust into the starting role with Collin Sexton injured, has the highest assist total at 8.5.

Best Available Jazz vs Lakers Odds

The Jazz vs Lakers spread shows a half-point range as of Monday morning. The number is as big as LAL -13.0 and as small as LAL -12.5. The best ATS price on the Jazz at the moment is +13 (-110) at bet365, Caesars, and FanDuel. The best ATS price on the Lakers is -12.5 (-115) at BetMGM. If you’re willing to forego the hook, you can get -13.0 (-108) at DraftKings.

The Lakers’ moneyline is -800 or shorter at most books. The two exceptions are FanDuel and DraftKings, which both list LAL at -75o to win straight-up. The longest moneyline price on the Jazz is currently +550, which is available at a trio of books: bet365, BetMGM, and Caesars.

There is a full one-point range in the game total. FanDuel has the number the lowest O/U at 234.5, making it the best option for over bettors. BetMGM and bet365 both have the total a point higher with -110 odds each way.

The public is, somewhat surprisingly, not flocking to the Lakers to cover the spread, at least not yet. LA is getting just 51% of ATS handle on 41% of the ATS tickets in Monday’s NBA public betting splits. That said, a staggering 98% of moneyline handle is on the Lakers to win straight-up, despite the very short odds.