Lakers News: Los Angeles Team On The Fritz About To Face Jazz Team On The Rise

Their similar records don't necessarily reflect their ability.

Tonight, your perennially struggling post-In-Season Tournament Los Angeles Lakers, the 11th seed in the Western Conference with a 19-20 record, will do their darnedest to course correct against the 20-20 Utah Jazz, a club in a similar boat... at least on paper.

But that Utah record doesn't tell the whole story. The club started out the season reeling, too, with a dismal 7-16 record. Since then, however, thanks to some critical rotational tweaks from head coach Will Hardy (including a surprise bench demotion of 2022-23 All-Rookie big man Walker Kessler in favor of 6'9" power forward John Collins being moved to the starting center role), the Jazz have gone a stellar 13-4. Zooming in even more, Utah is riding high right now on a four-game winning streak, and boasts an 8-2 record across its last ten contests.

Per Tony Jones of The Athletic, backup power forward/center Kelly Olynyk recently reflected on how the bumpy early start -- and the subsequent lineup improvements -- have shaped Utah's season so far.

“We’ve just mixed and matched and put ingredients into the soup and kind of figured out what’s worked and what hasn’t worked,” Olynyk said. “We’re at the point where guys know their roles, and they are trying to be stars in their roles, and it’s all just working right now.“

Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune writes that Hardy has managed to more clearly define exactly how role players will be utilized going forward in these new configurations. To wit, Collins isn't the only starting change Hardy has made: defense-first point guard Kris Dunn, shooting guard/former Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner Collin Sexton, sharpshooting small forward Simone Fontecchio, and Collins have become recent fixtures of Hardy's new-looking starting unit, alongside All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen.

The club also has scary, versatile depth, unlike the Lakers. To wit, it is comfortable trotting out a solid five-man bench unit for long stretches, comprising Keyonte George at the point, Jordan Clarkson at shooting guard, Ochai Agbaji at small forward, Olynyk at power forward and Kessler at center. This group is able to pour it on opposing units, with a 24-points per possession scoring edge.