Lakers News: Missing Three Starters, Lakers Get Obliterated By Jazz In Utah, 139-116
Your shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers lost their third straight contest to the Utah Jazz, 139-116, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. L.A. was without three of its starters, including most crucially LeBron James, the team's best player, but even with all three of those players available, the Lakers still lost at home to Utah by double digits this past Friday. The Jazz are younger, deeper, faster, and more skilled.
We knew that LeBron James (sore left foot) and Patrick Beverley (non-COVID-19 illness) would miss the game, as would a few role players, but L.A. fans were not prepared to find out that the team's fourth-leading scorer, starting shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV, was also sidelined with a non-COVID-19 illness of his own. Keep in mind, LeBron James had been bedridden for several days last week with a non-COVID-19 illness as well. That non-COVID-19 sure gets around.
Los Angeles head coach Darvin Ham kept Kendrick Nunn in as his starting point guard (despite a miserable showing last night) and elevated Austin Reaves to the starting shooting guard gig. Even with James absent, Ham decided to keep Anthony Davis as his starting center, starting 6'9" big man Wenyen Gabriel at power forward.
With the defeat, the Lakers remain as the Western Conference's No. 14 seed, sporting a 2-8 record. The Jazz meanwhile are still the West's top seed (!), having won their third straight game to boost their season record to 9-3.
During the contest's first quarter, the Lakers' defense offered up no resistance against Utah, especially from long range, but both teams shot the ball well. The Jazz went 8-of-12 from deep, and while L.A. had the exact same success rate from long range (66.7%), the team shot a far more modest six triples, nailing four. The Lakers went 14-of-20 from deep overall.
As far as highlights go for the Lakers, there weren't a ton to be had after the game's first half -- in fact, there weren't a ton to be had after the game's first quarter! So let's enjoy some of choice cuts from some the Lakers' two active future first ballot Hall of Famers, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.
Here's an excellent roll to the rim for AD off a Troy Brown Jr. dish:
Russell Westbrook may not be the same athlete he was a decade ago, but man oh man can he still get up there:
Davis managed to shake defender Lauri Markkanen, the new-look Jazz's best player, with this nasty spin move:
Utah's more frequent looks from long range and the free-throw line helped the club take a 42-34 lead at the end of the frame.
In the game's second quarter, the Lakers battled back offensively, but again had trouble containing the Jazz. With Los Angeles so shorthanded, rookie wing Max Christie got some first-half burn. Westbrook (8 points, 3 assists) and Davis (9 points) led the way for the Lakers in the frame. L.A. outscored Utah 37-32 for the period, but the Jazz were still ultimately leading at the break, 76-71.
The Jazz really pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Lakers 39-27 with a balanced attack. Midway through the fourth quarter, Darvin Ham surrendered, and Lakers fans were treated to a rare Scotty Pippen Jr. sighting while the Jazz finished off their demolition.
Davis and Westbrook were of course the Lakers' leading lights. Davis scored 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting, grabbed four rebounds, dished out two dimes, had a steal and made one block. Westbrook did score 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor, passed for five assists, pulled down three rebounds, and chipped in a steal and a block. He also posted a team-worst -23 plus-minus on the night.
Nunn did rebound mightily from his 0-point night against the Cavaliers at least, pouring in 18 points while going 7-of-11 from the floor (and 2-of-4 from long range). So, you know, there's that.
Markkanen (a Jazz-most 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting) and ex-Laker Jordan Clarkson (22 points on a smoking hot 8-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-6 from long range) were Utah's high scorers, but seven Jazz players scored in double digits for the night.
The Jazz trounced the Lakers in rebounds (sporting a 44-33 edge) and, more troublingly, assists (30-15).
Los Angeles hopes to be a bit more whole in the days ahead as it looks to secure its third win of the year. L.A. will play one more "road" game, something of a toss-up against the Los Angeles Clippers (who are apparently going to be without Kawhi Leonard indefinitely) at their shared Crypto.com Arena.
Provided James and Walker return (Beverley is such a minus on offense right now that his minutes are relatively incidental), the Lakers will then have a few winnable games at home (yes, really). The club will, at long last, do battle with several sub-.500 teams. During their home stand, the Lakers will play host to the 3-5 Sacramento Kings, the 4-6 Brooklyn Nets, the 3-8 Detroit Pistons, and finally the 5-6 San Antonio Spurs.
