The Utah Jazz play host to the Los Angeles Lakers in Orlando on Monday.

The Lakers (50-15) had an amazing start to the Orlando restart with a narrow win over the Los Angeles Clippers but they followed that up with a 15-point loss at the hands of the Toronto Raptors. What was really frustrating about that loss was the stifling defense from the Raptors, holding LeBron James and Anthony Davis to just 34 combined points. That's a rare task for any team and it probably won't happen again this season. The good news is that the loss doesn't hurt them too badly in the standings, still sitting 5.5 games up on the Clippers. That means one more win will secure that top-seed and that's all fans could have hoped for at the beginning of the season.

The Jazz (42-24) were lucky to pull off a narrow win over the New Orleans Pelicans in their opener, following that up with a blowout loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, It has actually put them in a tie with the Houston Rockets for fourth and Oklahoma City is just half a game behind in sixth. That means these teams will likely be their opponents come postseason time and this is a club that needs to prove that they can win outside of Utah when it really matters. The recipe for success is the same as always for this club, stifling opponents on the defensive end. They currently sit ninth in points allowed but just 20th in scoring. Having Mike Conley perform so well in the Orlando opener is hopefully a sign of things to come too because he can get this offense to a place where it needs to be headed into the playoffs.

These teams have already played twice this season, with the Lakers winning both meetings by at least nine points apiece.