The better team in the April clash between the Lakers and the Jazz was never in question. From the outset, the Los Angeles Lakers (53-29, 33-19 Western) were the favorites, mired in a battle with the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets for the No. 3, 4, and 5 seeds. The Utah Jazz (22-60, 12-40 Western) sat dead last in the West, and they spent the final evening of the regular season trying to escape the bottom spot — or, perhaps, to retain it.
On Sunday, the Lakers ran away with a 131-107 victory against the Jazz in Los Angeles. The Lakers went up double digits after one quarter and led by 17 at the half; Lakers forward LeBron James and guard Luke Kennard looked on as the Lakers’ bench ran up the score on the Jazz. Lakers forward Rui Hachimura and center Deandre Ayton also continued to pile on the pressure, scoring 22 points apiece. The victory brought the Lakers to 53 wins to conclude a chaotic, injury-riddled regular season.
“I talked a lot about chemistry … in team sports, we all need each other,” Hachimura said in a postgame press conference. “I think to get through this season, especially 82 games is really long, a lot of things happening, injuries, different lineups, trades, everything. So, I think that this year we had good chemistry to fight through 82 games.”
Lakers star forward Luka Dončić and guard Austin Reaves sat out for the fifth straight game due to injury. Despite their absence, the Lakers wasted no time from the tipoff. Ayton got on the scoreboard early, flushing an alley-oop from guard Marcus Smart. He scored his eighth point four minutes later, throwing it down again from a James lob.
The Jazz, playing a lineup of G-League regulars and young former first-round picks, struggled early on both ends. A brief shooting reprieve from Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh kept things from devolving into blowout territory; Sensabaugh left after scoring 15 points in 13 minutes.
Up 21 going into the fourth, the Lakers pulled their starters and went deep into the bench. Lakers forward Dalton Knecht scored a season-high 17 points in 12 minutes, lighting up from deep. Jazz center Oscar Tshiebwe took full advantage of weaker opposition. In only the seventh start of his career, Tshiebwe put up a career-high 29 points while also grabbing 17 boards. Jazz guard and former Triton Hayden Gray made his NBA debut, scoring 6 points in 25 minutes.
Following the Nuggets’ win against the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers ended the season as the No. 4 seed. The Lakers were drawn against Kevin Durant and the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA playoffs and took a 107-98 victory in Game 1 and a 101-94 win in Game 2; Game 3 tips off in Houston on Friday. The Lakers remain without the services of Dončić and Reaves, who are nursing injuries and are not expected to play in the first round.
“Yeah, again, we have tried for the last six weeks to build towards the playoffs,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “Both in our mentality with our habits, all that stuff. We knew the reality whether we got the three, four, five, six [seed], whatever it was, there’s no easy matchup. … Houston’s obviously a really good basketball team and we’re gonna prepare, and we’re gonna fight, and we’re gonna go try to win the series.”
