Lauri Markkanen's stats are down this season, but he says — and his coach agrees — that there's a good reason for that.

This Utah Jazz season hasn't provided fans many reasons to celebrate, and unfortunately, that's kind of the point. In an awkward era of Jazz basketball, a roster stuffed with an unbalanced combination of youth and age has been constructed with the goal of maximizing lottery odds.

Lauri Markkanen scored 32 points and had a season-high three steals to lead the Utah Jazz to a 131-119 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. Jordan Clarkson had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to help Utah end a three-game slide.