Los Angeles Lakers vs Utah Jazz Prediction, 12/18/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Los Angeles Lakers vs Utah Jazz

Date: Thursday, December 18, 2025

Location: Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: KJZZ

Odds/Point Spread: Los Angeles (-7.5)

Delta Center is the location where the Utah Jazz (10-15) will play the Los Angeles Lakers (18-7) on Thursday. Los Angeles opens this matchup as 7.5-point favorites. The total is set at 244.

The Lakers faced the Suns and went home with a win by a final score of 116-114 in their last contest. When talking about fouls, the Lakers ended up walking away with 23 and the Suns totaled 28 fouls. They also buried 13 of 37 shots from beyond the arc. Phoenix finished the contest at 84.0% at the charity stripe by converting 21 of 25 attempts. On top of that, Phoenix pulled down 37 rebounds (10 offensive, 27 defensive) and earned 8 blocks. Phoenix recorded 29 assists and had 11 steals in this game. When discussing the defense, Los Angeles allowed 48.8% from the field on 40 out of 82 shooting. They also dished out 20 dimes for this game as well as forcing the other team into 20 turnovers and having 13 steals. In the matter of pulling down boards, they collected a total of 54 with 24 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Lakers converted 33 of 43 attempts for a rate of 76.7%. Los Angeles ended with a 43.2% FG percentage (38 out of 88) and made 7 of 37 three-point shots.

Luka Doncic is one guy who was a major contributor in this matchup. Doncic finished the game at 28.0% from the field and recorded 6 assists. He played for 38 mins played and also snagged 3 rebounds. He recorded 29 points on 7 out of 25 shooting.

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Los Angeles will enter this contest with a win-loss record of 18-7 this season. They currently have an average of 118.2 pts per contest (11th in the league) while shooting 50.4% from the floor. The Lakers are shooting 35.4% on shots from distance (296 of 837) and 79.4% from the charity stripe. As a team, Los Angeles is collecting 41.6 rebounds per contest and has racked up 626 assists so far this season, which has them ranked 26th in the league in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 15.7 times per contest and as a group they commit 19.6 fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Lakers are forcing 15.0 turnovers every game and they draw 22.6 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 38.1% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 17th in the league in points per game allowed (116.7). The Lakers are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 48.1% (1,055 of 2,194) and they relinquish 39.9 rebounds per contest as a group. They are ranked 15th in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 688 conceded for the campaign.

The last time they took the court, the Jazz walked away with a victory by a final of 140-133 against the Mavericks. The Jazz snagged 39 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 47 in the game. They turned it over 13 times, while earning 8 steals for the matchup. The Mavericks had 26 fouls for the contest which got the Jazz to the charity stripe for a total of 33 tries. They were able to knock down 27 of the free throws for a rate of 81.8%. Concerning shooting from beyond the arc, Utah made 13 out of their 36 tries (36.1%). When this game wrapped up, the Jazz ended up going 50 for 97 from the floor which had them sitting at 51.5%. The Jazz permitted the Mavericks to convert 48 of their 98 attempts from the field which had them shooting 49.0% in the game. They finished 33.3% from 3-point land by shooting 9 of 27 and ended up going 28 of 41 at the free throw line (68.3%). In relation to attacking the glass, Utah allowed Dallas to pull down 5 in total (14 on the offensive glass).

Keyonte George was important for the Jazz for this game. George recorded 37 points in his 41 mins on the hardwood and added 6 assists for the matchup. He converted 11 of 20 for the game for a field goal rate of 55.0%, and added 5 rebounds.

Utah has a win-loss record of 10-15 so far this season. As an offensive unit, the Jazz are hitting on 45.8% from the floor, which is ranked 22nd in the league. Utah has earned 2,975 pts so far this season (119.0 per contest) and they pull down 45.7 boards per game. They are earning an assist 29.8 times per contest (2nd in basketball) and they are losing possession via turnover 16.2 times per contest. The Jazz are committing 22.8 personal fouls every game and they hit 81.0% from the charity stripe.

The Utah defense gives up 37.8% on 3-pointers (381 of 1,009) and their opposition makes 78.1% of their free throw shots. They have conceded 29.4 dimes and 44.3 total rebounds per game, which is ranked 29th and 17th in the NBA. The Jazz are ranked 29th in basketball in PPG given up with 126.1. They are able to force 13.9 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 48.8% from the field (26th in basketball).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Los Angeles (-7.5)

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