The key point of emphasis lately for the Los Angeles Lakers has been defense, especially perimeter defense. It is something they have struggled with plenty, and they had an opportunity to improve in that area when they visited the Utah Jazz on Thursday.
Early on, the Lakers’ defensive woes seemed to be about as strong as ever. They trailed by nine at the end of the first quarter and gave up 41 points on 70% shooting in the period. They started to claw their way back into the game in the second quarter, but they were still down 78-73 at halftime after allowing Keyonte George to score 18 first-half points.
Los Angeles finally took a 109-108 lead with just over 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter on a free throw by Jake LaRavia. Overall, it went on a 13-2 run early in the period, and it led 131-119 with just over four minutes left. The Jazz were loud in their efforts to steal this game, but L.A. was able to hold them off for a 143-135 victory.
The team was able to hold the Jazz to a more manageable 57 points in the second half, and it had a 48-39 edge on the boards, despite being without starting center Deandre Ayton, while committing just seven turnovers. Despite its defensive issues, it finished with a 24-9 advantage in fast-break points.
With a 19-7 record, the Lakers remain in third place in the Western Conference and are one game behind the second-place Denver Nuggets.
Marcus Smart: A
With Austin Reaves still out due to a calf strain, Smart started his second straight game, and he gave L.A. the type of offensive boost it needed without Reaves. He made six of his 11 field goal attempts, and he even went 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Three of his made threes came in the fourth quarter when the Lakers looked to pull away.
Smart finished with 17 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal, and he used up all six of his fouls in 28 minutes.
Jaxson Hayes: B
Hayes got the start in place of Ayton, who was out with elbow soreness. While he only got three rebounds and didn’t block a single shot in 22 minutes, he feasted on lob passes from his teammates. He scored 16 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and provided the type of vertical spacing Luka Doncic loves to work with.
Rui Hachimura: B-plus
Hachimura did a decent job of helping the Lakers out offensively in this game. He hit six of his 10 shot attempts and finished with 13 points, plus three rebounds, one assist and one block in 33 minutes.
LeBron James: A-minus
James continues to get his sea legs under him after missing the first 14 games of this season due to sciatica. He scored nine points in the second quarter to keep the Lakers in this game, and overall, he had 28 points on 8-of-17 overall shooting. He had a couple of strong dunks and displayed some excellent open-court play throughout the contest.
He also had 10 assists, seven rebounds and one steal in 33 minutes. He took a shot to his left knee at one point and appeared to be injured, but he continued to play, and he said he was OK after the game.
His only blemish was the fact that he missed all five of his 3-point tries.
Luka Doncic: A-plus
Early on, Doncic wasn’t able to hit from the outside. He went 1-of-7 from downtown in the first half, but the rest of his game was on, and his 3-point shooting started to come around later.
He kept coming at the Jazz all evening, especially early on. He finished with 45 points on 14-of-28 overall shooting, 4-of-12 from beyond the arc and 13-of-16 from the free throw line, giving him his sixth 40-point performance of this season.
By also grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing off 14 assists, Doncic also came up with his third triple-double of this season so far. He also contributed five steals and committed only one turnover in 40 minutes.
Jake LaRavia: B-plus
LaRavia gave the Lakers some scoring punch in this game, something he hasn’t done much of lately. He converted on four of his six shot attempts and two of his four 3-point attempts, giving him 12 points. He also chipped in six rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes.
Jarred Vanderbilt: A
For the second straight game, Vanderbilt was back in the Lakers’ rotation, and as he did on Sunday versus the Phoenix Suns, he put in lots of work. He devoured 11 rebounds in 25 minutes, with eight of them coming in the first half and six coming in the second quarter to keep his team competitive.
He made three of his seven shot attempts, including a 3-pointer, giving him seven points, plus one assist.
Maxi Kleber: C-plus
Kleber held things down decently during the 19 minutes he was on the court. He made one of his two field-goal attempts and finished with five points, two rebounds, one assist and one block.
Nick Smith Jr., Dalton Knecht, Adou Thiero: Incomplete
Smith got five minutes and missed both of his shot attempts. Thiero had one rebound in three minutes, and Knecht made no statistical contributions in four minutes. All three men went scoreless.
