Tip-off: Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Jazz -13, Total: 201.5

The Lakers look to avoid losing in front of a national audience for the second straight night.

The Lakers lost for the eighth time in nine games on Wednesday night, falling 105-98 in Portland (LAL +8) in the second game of a three-game road trip. At 16-33, Los Angeles holds sole possession of last place in the Western Conference and has the second-worst record in the entire NBA. The Lakers also rank in the bottom third of the league in records against the spread at 21-27-1. Wednesday marked their 11th straight regular season loss to Portland. This dismal team will now play on national television on back-to-back nights as they close out their road swing against the Jazz in Utah. After winning six straight games earlier this month, the Jazz are in the midst of a two-game losing streak after losing 103-93 in Denver on Tuesday. They’re now 29-18 (20-25-2 ATS) and have held steady at No. 5 in the West, but have as of yet failed to take the No. 4 seed from the Clippers, who recently lost Chris Paul to injury. Over the last five seasons, games involving a team with a winning percentage between .600 and .750 that are playing their fifth game in seven days (UTAH) are 47-19 Under against totals set at 200 or higher. Since the beginning of the 2014 season, the Lakers are 12-2 Under against the total when playing teams with winning percentages between .600 and .750 in the second half of the season. SG Rodney Hood is out indefinitely for the Jazz, and PG D’Angelo Russell will miss a few more games for the Lakers.

Los Angeles is averaging 106.2 points per 100 possessions (20th in NBA), 112.7 points allowed per 100 possessions (30th) and plays at a pace of 97.9 possessions per 48 minutes, the seventh fastest in the league. The Lakers were led against Portland by SG Lou Williams (18.2 PPG, 3.1 APG, 1.1 SPG), who posted game highs with 31 points and five assists on the evening. Williams has been a rare bright spot for Los Angeles this season, as his 22.9 PER is 22nd in the NBA, putting him ahead of stars such as Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin and Marc Gasol. Tellingly, it’s more than six points higher than the PER of anyone else on the roster. He is averaging a career high in scoring despite having played five other seasons in which he played more minutes per game. After somewhat of a quiet start to the month, he has scored at least 24 points in four of his last five games. SG Jordan Clarkson (14.1 PPG, 1.2 SPG) joins him as a scorer off the bench, and he had his highest-scoring game since before Christmas on Wednesday night with 22 points. He also led the team with 35 minutes, five more than anyone else played. PG Jose Calderon (3.6 PPG, 2.2 APG) went scoreless in his 10th start of the year, and it was Clarkson who truly manned the point for most of the game. C Timofey Mozgov (7.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG) gave the Lakers two starters with zero points on the night. Croatian rookie C Ivica Zubac (4.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG) played most of the minutes at the five and posted his second double-double in four games with 12 points and 10 boards. He has only played in 14 games this season, including each of the Lakers’ last seven. SG Nick Young (13.7 PPG), PF Julius Randle (13.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 3.8 APG) and rookie SF Brandon Ingram (8.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG) also get significant minutes.

The Jazz have the second-best defense in the NBA according to defensive efficiency rating, as they allow only 104.2 points per 100 possessions. They’re above average on offense, scoring 108.5 points per 100 possessions (13th in NBA). They play the second-slowest pace in the league at 91.5 possessions per 48 minutes. The Jazz have two candidates for the Western Conference All-Star team in SF Gordon Hayward (21.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.0 SPG) and C Rudy Gobert (12.8 PPG, 12.6 RPG, 2.5 BPG). (They’ll know by game time on Thursday night if they made the cut.) A well-rounded player, Hayward is 24th in the league in scoring, 12th among small forwards in rebounding and fifth among SFs in assists. He scored under 10 points for only the fourth time this season on Tuesday night, putting up nine on 2-of-10 shooting against the Nuggets. He has, however, scored at least 20 in eight of 13 games in January. While fourth on the team in scoring, Gobert is inarguably the team’s most dominant player. He is a monster in the paint, as he leads the NBA in blocks and is fifth in the league in rebounding. He’s the heart of arguably the best defense in the league, and he is a deserving All-Star selection. PG George Hill (18.0 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 4.1 APG, 1.0 SPG) has only played in 23 of 47 games this season, but he has been generally fantastic when he has been on the floor. He scored a season-high 30 points against his former team, the Indiana Pacers, in a win this past Saturday. PFs Derrick Favors (9.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG) and Trey Lyles (8.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG) split minutes at their position, while SF Joe Ingles (6.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.3 APG) has gone from someone few fans had heard of before the season to a dependable rotation player. He got his eighth start of the season on Tuesday in an oversized lineup.