The Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Utah Jazz at Staples Center on Monday.

The Jazz (42-15) have been the best team in the NBA for most of the season, but they've hit a bit of a slide recently. In fact, they have a 4-4 record across their last eight games and just lost Donovan Mitchell to an ankle injury over the weekend. He's garnered some MVP consideration with his outstanding play, and it's a wonder what this team will look like without him. The good news is that Mike Conley and Joe Ingles are plenty capable of taking over ball-handling duties while Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson will take over the scoring. That's a nice foursome to have around a defensive stud like Rudy Gobert, making this team look just fine in his absence.

The Lakers (35-22) have traded off wins and losses in each of their last 11 games, and that's really all you can ask for, considering they're playing without Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Those two have been carrying the team for two years now, and it's somewhat impressive to see this bunch maintain a 6-5 record in that 11-game stretch. Guys like Dennis Schroder, Kyle Kuzma and Andre Drummond have done a nice job of holding down the fort, especially with LBJ and AD both expected to return in the coming weeks. That's going to be a welcomed sight, and it's scary for these other Western Conference teams that they'll have to play this club at full health come postseason time.

These teams have played twice this season, splitting those two meetings. They actually faced off over the weekend, with Los Angeles prevailing in overtime, 127-115. That gives the Lakers five wins in their last six meetings with the Jazz.