Lakers Highlights: Seven Players Reach Double-Figures As Lakers Crush Jazz In Luka Doncic's Debut
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The buzz inside the Crypto.com Arena for the debut of Luka Doncic in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform felt like a playoff game. And neither Doncic nor the Lakers disappointed all the fans in attendance.
Doncic finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists while LeBron James led the way with 24 points, seven rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers blew out the Utah Jazz, 132-113. The win was the sixth straight and 10th in the last 11 games for the Lakers who now sit at fourth in the Western Conference at 32-19.
It didn’t take long for the other Lakers to benefit from Doncic’s passing as he found Jaxson Hayes on a lob for his first assist as a Laker. And just a couple minutes later he would knock down a stepback 3-pointer for his first points in the purple and gold.
Things would continue on with some excellent passes including a full-court dime to LeBron in transition and a ridiculous skip pass for a Rui Hachimura 3-pointer. An and-one in the third quarter also brought the crowd to their feet, but that was the case any time Doncic had the ball in his hands.
It was an all-around team effort from the Lakers on this night, however, as Austin Reaves finished with 22 points on just 10 shots, to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. Hachimura added 21 points and six rebounds while Hayes simply caught alley-oops from Luka and LeBron all night for 12 points and three steals.
Gabe Vincent continued his excellent play of late with 11 points and four assists but it was two-way player Jordan Goodwin who nearly stole the show in Doncic’s debut. Head coach JJ Redick kept Goodwin in the rotation and he responded with 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals while absolutely hounding the Jazz guards on defense.
The Lakers shot 54.3% as a team while also knocking down 15 3-pointers and turning over the ball just 11 times. They also out-rebounded the Jazz by five and forced 19 Utah turnovers in a game they led by as many as 34 points.
Lauri Markannen and John Collins led the Jazz with 17 points apiece as Utah dropped their third straight game.
Next up for the Lakers
The Lakers will head to Utah for a rematch with the Jazz on Wednesday night in their final game before the All-Star break. Once they return, the Lakers will make up their game with the Charlotte Hornets that was postponed due to the wildfires in Southern California on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
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