The Los Angeles Lakers’ recent surge continued relatively unabated with a 135-133 overtime win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday — but it wasn’t pretty.
Los Angeles gradually built a double-digit lead by halftime, and it looked like it was going to cruise to a relatively uneventful victory. But its lead started to diminish midway through the third quarter, and it disappeared when Utah took a 99-97 advantage with 9:53 left in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers surged ahead for a few minutes afterward, but they couldn’t defend the 3-point shot. As a result, they almost dropped this contest. According to head coach Darvin Ham, another huge culprit was the fact they started walking the ball upcourt instead of pushing the ball and looking for transition opportunities with regularity.
Luckily for them, they survived, and as a result, they are on the brink of a big milestone. With a win on Wednesday over the Los Angeles Clippers, they would take over sole possession of fifth place in the West.
Anthony Davis: B-minus
Davis played well in the first half, going 6-of-9 from the field and scoring 16 points, but afterward, he didn’t get the job done. He had only two shot attempts in the third quarter while going scoreless, and he missed three key free throws in crunch time.
Even though he played beneath his standards offensively with 21 points on 7-of-16 field-goal shooting and 7-of-12 from the free-throw line, he did get it done in other areas. The big man grabbed 14 rebounds, dished six assists, blocked two shots and recorded two steals to help the Lakers win this crucial game.
Jarred Vanderbilt: C-plus
Vanderbilt had a quiet game, managing just six points, two rebounds, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot in 18 minutes. However, he went 2-of-4 from 3-point range, which was a welcome sight for Lakers fans.
This was the third time in the last four games that Vanderbilt made two 3-pointers, and since teams often leave him open on the wing, he can seriously help his team out by hitting shots from that spot.
LeBron James: A-plus
In his fifth game back from a right foot tendon injury, James finally looked like his vintage self. He dropped 37 points on 14-of-27 shooting while making all six of his free throws and adding six assists.
In the last 4:03 of the fourth quarter and all through overtime, he took charge with 14 points, including the game-winning shot with 27.1 seconds left on a drive to the basket. Quite often, James will settle for jump shots in potential game-winning situations, but not this time, and it resulted in one of the biggest wins he has been a part of in at least a couple of seasons.
Dennis Schroder: C-plus/B-minus
Schroder filled in for D’Angelo Russell, who missed this game with a foot ailment. The German native shot 7-of-18 from the field, but his impact seemed to go beyond his numbers. He was aggressive offensively, and defensively he made an effort to pressure Utah’s guards.
Austin Reaves: A-plus
Watching Reaves grow as a player, seemingly on a game-to-game basis, continues to be a pleasure for Lakers fans. With the team needing more production from him due to Russell’s absence, he went off for a very efficient 28 points while shooting 8-of-13 overall, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Reaves also had six assists, tying him for the team lead in that category. He has become a player the Lakers simply cannot live without.
Rui Hachimura: A
Once again, Hachimura gave L.A. a spark off the bench. Coming off a 20-point game on Sunday, he tossed in 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting while grabbing six rebounds.
On multiple occasions, he found himself guarded by a smaller man, and he wasted no time taking advantage of the mismatch and getting easy buckets inside.
Wenyen Gabriel: B
In 10 minutes, Gabriel took only one shot, which he hit, but he produced five rebounds and blocked a shot. His energy and effort, even in limited playing time, were very welcome on a night when the Lakers faced a young, fearless team such as the Jazz.
Troy Brown Jr.: B
Although Brown shot just 1-of-4, his one made shot was a 3-pointer that came midway through the fourth quarter as L.A. was trying to hold off Utah.
His hot shooting of late has continued, and his team can really use more of it as the playoffs approach.
Malik Beasley: C-minus
Beasley played 22 minutes, going 1-of-3 overall and missing both of his attempts from beyond the arc while finishing with three points and three rebounds.
His one highlight came early in the second quarter when he had a nice block on a Collin Sexton layup attempt that went out of bounds off the Jazz guard.
