Los Angeles Lakers @ Utah Jazz
Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 9:30 PM ET
Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT | Game ID: 22300549
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
UTA 31 33 36 32 132LAL 39 28 28 30 125
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Jazz rally past Lakers 132-123, extending winning streak to five
SALT LAKE CITY -- — Lauri Markkanen had 29 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Utah Jazz to a 132-123 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
Collin Sexton scored 27 points and Jordan Clarkson added 21 to help the Jazz win their eighth straight game at home and fifth straight overall. John Collins and Keyonte George chipped in 19 points apiece. Collins also grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds.
Utah moved a game over .500 for the first time this season after winning only seven of its first 23 games. The Jazz have their first five-game winning streak under coach Will Hardy.
“It’s taken a while, but I think we’re finding an identity on both ends of the floor and we’re able to execute night in and night out,” Markkanen said.
With LeBron James out with a left ankle injury, Anthony Davis had a triple-double, but the Jazz turned around the game after the first quarter.
Utah dominated in transition, scoring 27 fast-break points and 23 points off turnovers.
“We didn’t want this game to be played all in the halfcourt,” Hardy said. “We felt like our speed in transition was an advantage. The team did a really good job of recognizing that and getting out and running.”
D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers with a season-high 39 points and eight assists. Austin Reaves chipped in 19 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter and Rui Hachimura added 17.
Davis had 15 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, but shot just 5 of 21 from the field and committed six turnovers.
“When our offense is going, it’s our defense that’s not. When our defense is going, it’s our offense that’s not,” Russell said. “I really don’t know what’s going on.”
Utah used a 15-3 run to surge ahead midway through the third quarter. Markkanen and Kris Dunn bookended the run with 3-pointers as Utah went up 85-79.
The Lakers cut the deficit to three on Hachimura’s jumper with 8:59 left but drew no closer. Utah pulled away and gained its first double digit lead at 120-109 on Sexton’s alley-oop dunk off a steal with 4:19 remaining.
“I think our defense picked up after the first quarter and we were able to keep it up and that won us the game,” Markkanen said.
Utah went 17 of 19 from the free throw line during the fourth quarter and was 36 of 39 overall. Markkanen and Sexton made 10 free throws apiece on 21 combined attempts.
The Jazz and the Lakers combined for 63 free throw attempts over four quarters.
“That’s a lot of free throws between both teams combined,” Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham said. “It totally disrupts the flow of the game.”
Even without James, Los Angeles got off to a strong start. Reaves and Russell attacked relentlessly and combined to score the Lakers’ first 19 points. They each had 12 points in the first quarter, which ended with Russell's buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave the Lakers a 39-31 lead.
After trailing by 12 points midway through the second quarter, Utah cut the deficit to 65-64 on a three-point play from Clarkson with 52 seconds left before halftime.
“The first quarter we were really a step behind on the defensive end of the floor,” Hardy said. “Then the team settled in.”
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
UTACS C. Sexton
JC J. Clarkson
JC J. Collins
KD K. Dunn
KG K. George
KO K. Olynyk
LM L. Markkanen
OA O. Agbaji
SF S. Fontecchio
WK W. Kessler
LALAD A. Davis
AR A. Reaves
CR C. Reddish
CW C. Wood
DR D. Russell
JV J. Vanderbilt
MC M. Christie
RH R. Hachimura
SM S. Mays
TP T. Prince
UTA/LAL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur