Lakers' Markieff Morris on Blowout Loss to Jazz: Playoffs Are a Different Story

The Utah Jazz have clearly established themselves as the best team of the first half of the 2020-21 NBA season.

The Los Angeles Lakers do not appear worried. 

"We see the Jazz, we know they beat our ass tonight," Lakers forward Markieff Morris told reporters after Utah's 114-89 blowout win over the defending champs Wednesday night. "But in the playoffs, it's a different story."

The Jazz are currently an NBA-best 26-6, with wins in 11 of their last 12 games. They are outscoring opponents by 9.9 points per 100 possessions, a mark that's two points better than any other team.

However, Utah does have a recent history of postseason disappointment. The Jazz haven't gotten past the second round in the Rudy Gobert-Donovan Mitchell era and have lost in the first round each of the last two postseasons, including allowing the Denver Nuggets to come back from a 3-1 deficit in 2020.

The Lakers, who are playing without Anthony Davis, are naturally a confident bunch coming off an NBA championship. They were also without Dennis Schroder on Wednesday as he continues to be in the health and safety protocol.

While past performance does not always indicate future outcomes, the Jazz understandably have a healthy number of skeptics around the league regarding their postseason chances.