Lakers vs Jazz - 12/18

By: Kyle Mucerino

With 6:35 left in the third quarter, the Jazz took a 93–84 lead and JJ Redick called a timeout. This ended up being the inflection point in the game, as from here on out the Lakers would make their run over the final quarter-and-a-half to finish with a 143–135 win on Thursday night. Let’s find out how the tide turned.

The Lakers returned to the floor after the timeout with Luka, Jaxson, Rui, LaRavia and Vando.

Luka backed down George and scored a nice turnaround bucket to make it 93–86 with 5:53 left in the third.

George then came off a pick on the next Jazz possession and missed a 14-foot floater that was rebounded by LaRavia and ended with a strong drive and finish by Rui to make it 93–88 Jazz with 5:19 left in the third.

The next Jazz possession resulted in a turnover on an offensive foul by a Nurkic stiff-arm.

The Lakers then scored again on a great finish from Jaxson Hayes in the paint off a pass from Luka, as the Jazz sent a half-hearted double-team toward him while he was backing down George. It was 93–90 Jazz with 4:46 left in the third.

Kevin Love then got fouled on a three-point attempt and made 2-of-3 free throws to make it 95–90 Jazz with 4:35 left in the third. Kleber subbed in for Jaxson Hayes.

On the next possession, Luka got fouled on an isolation play and made both free throws to make it 95–92 Jazz with 4:15 left in the third.

Jake LaRavia then played great on-ball defense, containing George on a drive to the hoop, forcing him into a tough shot, and Vando secured the rebound.

Luka got a good look on the other end off a pick-and-roll but missed a 17-foot fadeaway. The Jazz came down the other way in transition and scored to make it 97–92 Jazz with 3:39 left in the third.

The Lakers came down on the next possession and got an easy Kleber dunk off some poor Jazz defense. It was 97–94 Jazz with 3:23 left in the third.

The Lakers then gave up another open Jazz three, made by Sensabaugh, to make it 100–94 Jazz with 3:06 left in the third. JJ called a timeout.

The Lakers turned it over on their first possession out of the timeout, followed by a Kevin Love airball from the corner, which led to a Rui dunk in transition off a nice feed from Luka to make it 100–96 Jazz with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

The Jazz came down and airballed another three, this time from Sensabaugh on the left wing. The Lakers came down the other way and got a LaRavia three from the left wing after another Jazz double-team attempt on Luka. He made it to cut the score to 100–99 Jazz with 2:05 left in the third quarter.

More great Laker defense followed, this time by Kleber containing another George drive. Vando missed a wide-open three on the other end, though. The game remained at 100–99 Jazz with 1:31 left in the third.

The Jazz then got fouled on their next possession and made both free throws to make it 102–99 Jazz with 1:20 left in the third.

LeBron entered the game for Rui.

On the next Lakers trip down the floor, Luka made a bucket plus the foul. After the made free throw, it was 102–102 with 1:12 left in the third.

The Jazz then got two easy layups in a row on the other end to take a 106–102 lead, and that score would hold as the third quarter ended.

Over the last half of the third quarter, the Lakers cut into the Jazz’s nine-point lead to tie it, then conceded two late layups to finish down four. But it could have been worse.

Luka got his customary rest to start the fourth quarter, so it was LeBron, Vando, LaRavia, Kleber and Smart out there as the five for the Lakers.

LeBron came down and hit a 17-foot jumper from straightaway to make it 106–104 Jazz.

The Jazz then scored easily on a nice Filipowski drive on the other end to make it 108–104 Jazz.

LeBron came down the other way and missed a three, but LaRavia grabbed the offensive rebound and found a cutting LeBron for a dunk to make it 108–106 Jazz with 10:59 left in the fourth.

LaRavia then forced a Filipowski turnover with some great individual defense. LeBron found Kleber in semi-transition, who drove and got fouled on a layup attempt. He made both free throws to tie the game at 108 with 10:32 left in the fourth.

The Lakers then forced another Jazz airball on a tough three taken by Ace Bailey. LeBron took the rebound in transition and hit Kleber again, who got fouled again on a layup attempt. He made 1-of-2 to give the Lakers a 109–108 lead with 10:07 left in the fourth.

Kevin Love missed a three on the other end, and Smart grabbed a great rebound in traffic to finish off a good defensive possession for the Lakers.

The Jazz then left Smart open at the top of the key for three off a LeBron assist, which he made to give the Lakers a 112–108 lead with 9:31 left in the fourth.

The Lakers were on a 10–2 run at this point after taking a four-point lead.

Fast forward over a minute later, after a few missed shots and a turnover were traded between the two teams, LeBron drove and got fouled with 8:22 left in the fourth. He made both free throws to give the Lakers a 114–108 lead.

Keyonte George then got fouled on a drive and made both free throws on the subsequent Jazz possession to make it 114–110 Lakers.

Luka re-entered the game for LeBron at the eight-minute mark and found Marcus Smart for another three at the top of the key to make it 117–110 Lakers with 7:55 left in the game.

The game was far from over at this point, but this stretch—from 6:35 left in the third to 7:55 left in the fourth—is what gave the Lakers the chance to win this game down the stretch, as they have so many times this year already.

They were down nine at the start of the stretch and finished up seven—a +16 run in about 10 minutes of game time, which ultimately led them to victory in this one.

Three standouts in this game—other than Luka (45p/14a/11r) and LeBron (28p/10a/7r), of course—were Jake LaRavia, Jarred Vanderbilt and Maxi Kleber.

LaRavia played over 28 minutes in the game, Vanderbilt played 25, and Kleber logged 19.

LaRavia finished with six rebounds—three offensive and three defensive—four assists, 12 points, and was a +14 in his minutes. He was also 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Jarred Vanderbilt was fantastic again in his second game back in the rotation, upped from 15 minutes last game to 25 in this one with Deandre Ayton out, and was a +15 in those minutes. He had another huge game on the offensive glass, with five of his 11 rebounds coming off Laker misses. He added seven points and was 1-of-2 from three—icing on the cake for him and essential if he wants to keep rotational minutes.

Maxi Kleber was the most unlikely Laker hero last night, however. He was +17 in his 19 minutes of game action. He finished with only five points, two rebounds, one assist and one block, but played a big role in making timely plays during key stretches and being in the right place at the right time on the defensive end.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Jaxson Hayes’ 16 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor in his 22 minutes, as he got the start with Ayton sidelined, as well as Marcus Smart’s 17 points on 5-of-9 from three in place of Austin Reaves, both of which were major boosts to the Lakers’ effort.

Luka made a couple of huge threes down the stretch, and Rui finished the Jazz off with a dagger from the corner to essentially ice the game, and that was that. Another good win for the Lakers in a tough place to play, no matter what Jazz team is on the court. If the Lakers can keep getting performances like this from unsung heroes such as Jake LaRavia, Maxi Kleber and Jarred Vanderbilt to go along with the star power of Luka and LeBron, this team can be dangerous and may even have a higher ceiling than the fifth-best team in the West, as all the experts have dubbed them over the past week or so.