Jazz Rookie Ochai Agbaji Ejected From Season Finale Against Lakers
Apr 9, 2023, 3:30 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – Jazz rookie Ochai Agbaji received an ejection during the fourth quarter of Utah’s 2022-23 season finale against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers hosted the Jazz at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for the regular season finale on Sunday, April 9.
With 8:51 left in the game, the Kansas product was frustrated with the officiating while standing under a basket. Agbaji tossed the ball in the direction of one of the game’s referees and was immediately rejected from the contest.
The rookie was assessed a technical foul and an automatic ejection.
Ochai Agbaji has been ejected from the Jazz-Lakers game after tossing the ball at the ref.pic.twitter.com/JFy3jv0l50
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 9, 2023
Before leaving the court, the guard had eight points on 4-13 shooting. He added one rebound, eight assists, and one steal in 27 minutes on the court.
Through his first 58 games this season, Agbaji averaged 7.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.3 blocks, and 0.3 steals in 20.4 minutes per game.
a steal and a show from @youngoch 🍿 pic.twitter.com/yiF4wzZexE
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 9, 2023
Utah’s game against Los Angeles is broadcast on ESPN, AT&T SportsNet, and KSL Sports Zone.
Jazz vs. Lakers
Utah’s lottery odds
With a loss against Denver, and a loss on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers, teamed with a Washington Wizards win over the Houston Rockets, the Jazz could have been tied for the eighth-worst record in the NBA.
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Instead, with the Jazz’s 37th win of the season, they can no longer reach the eighth-best odds of winning the draft lottery next month, costing them better odds of winning the draft lottery, and a chance of landing the eighth pick in June’s draft.
Had they finished the season tied with the Wizards in the final standings, the Jazz’s odds of winning a top-four pick in the draft would have climbed to 23.2 percent. Additionally, they would have had a 50-50 chance of jumping into the eighth pick in the draft based on a drawing from the NBA to break the tie between themselves and the Wizards.
LISTEN LIVE: The @utahjazz wrap up the regular season in LA against the @Lakers on https://t.co/4kU961UAvR and the @KSLSportsZone.#TakeNote https://t.co/Lb432mfMR3 pic.twitter.com/oBpGnYbiub
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 9, 2023
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Now, the Jazz are in danger of falling as low as the 10th pick in the draft, and further damaging their odds of winning the lottery.
As of Saturday night, the Jazz own the ninth-worst record in the NBA. At ninth, the Jazz have a 20.2 percent chance of moving into the top-four picks in the draft via the lottery, a 50.7 percent chance of drafting ninth, and a 29.1 percent chance of drafting 10th or worse.
However, if the Jazz surprise the Lakers on Sunday, just as they did the Nuggets, and the Dallas Mavericks fall to the San Antonio Spurs, they’ll find themselves in a two-way tie for the ninth-worst record in the league.
Tonight's threads@bibigoUSA x #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/tRXIqLpPz0
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 9, 2023
At that point, the Jazz and Mavericks would split the ninth and tenth-best odds of winning the lottery, dropping their odds of moving up from 20.2 to 17 percent.
Furthermore, the NBA would have to break the tie between the two teams via a random drawing, giving the Jazz a 50-50 chance of dropping to 10th in the draft.
With the Jazz facing a motivated Lakers team on Sunday, it’s unlikely they find themselves tied with the Mavericks at season’s end, but as we learned in the team’s win over the Nuggets, anything is possible.
