Otherworldly Luka Doncic joins another exclusive club as Lakers wake up in time

A strong fourth quarter lifted the Lakers to a road win in Salt Lake City despite missing two starters. Luka Doncic posted a monstrous stat line, and LeBron James continued his upward trend with another strong performance.

Coming off a flat loss at home against the Spurs, without Victor Wembanyama, in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, the Lakers opened a strange four-game road stretch with an ugly but valuable win in Phoenix. That mini-tour features games against the Suns, Jazz, Clippers, and Suns again, although with a logistical twist.

The Lakers’ unusual Christmas schedule

After each game, the Lakers are flying back to Los Angeles, all of the stops within close range. They will return to Phoenix next Tuesday after visiting the Clippers, a team currently wrestling with an identity crisis, where the ultra-physical Suns under Jordan Ott scrap for everything and Dillon Brooks will surely have a full bag of tricks waiting for LeBron James.

After this odd stretch, the schedule should finally offer a chance to stack wins. Five straight home games are coming, starting with a marquee Christmas Day matchup against the Rockets. It is about more than the possibility of one of the final LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant meetings on an NBA floor. It is a real measuring stick for a Lakers team that keeps winning but still struggles to look like a true top-tier title contender.

The game in Salt Lake City followed that familiar script. The Lakers won, 143-135, because they win a lot. They are now 19-7, tied for third in the West with the Spurs and just one game behind the Nuggets. Yet for long stretches, far too many, they once again did not look like a championship-caliber team.

A patchwork rotation and defensive concerns

Game after game, it remains nearly impossible to see the Lakers’ full rotation. The core group of six or seven players has rarely been intact. Austin Reaves remains out, and Deandre Ayton did not play in Utah. Two starters were missing against a Jazz team dealing with its own issues, including the absence of its star, Lauri Markkanen.

In the end, that absence mattered more, especially once the Lakers finally surged in the fourth quarter. After trailing for most of the night and spending more than two quarters playing defense that was not just concerning but borderline embarrassing, the Lakers rolled up their sleeves late. In a seven-minute stretch, they turned a 108-104 deficit into a 131-119 lead. From there, they closed the game with control, if not flair.

Nightmares for JJ Redick

If coach JJ Redick has been vocal about defensive lapses, the first half will give him nightmares on the flight back to California. The Lakers had no answer for Utah’s ball handlers, rotated poorly, and allowed a steady diet of wide-open 3-pointers. They also struggled on the glass. In the second half, they adjusted just enough for their offensive firepower and star hierarchy to take over. Still, for long stretches, this did not look like a team with the physical edge or defensive commitment needed to make real noise in the spring. In this year’s Western Conference, no one gets through without that.

At one point, the 3-point shooting told a brutal story. The Jazz were 13 of 21 from deep, finishing 18 of 37. The Lakers were 6 of 23. Utah also went to the free throw line 47 times, making just 31. No team had taken that many free throws against the Lakers this season, and the 16 misses tied the league high in any game this year.

Without Markkanen, Utah’s young core took advantage. Isaiah Collier posted 18 points and 13 assists, Ace Bailey added 19, and Keyonte George poured in 34 points with eight assists in what has been a true breakout season for him, with or without Markkanen. Under coach Will Hardy, the Jazz remain well-coached but stuck in limbo, now 10-16 and likely to turn their focus back to the draft rather than the Play-In race sooner rather than later.

Stars deliver, and Lakers’ record keeps climbing

The Lakers still won comfortably, and that matters. Contradictions aside, 19-7 is an excellent record, including 12-3 on the road. They are 8-2 since LeBron returned, and with LeBron and Doncic on the floor together, the Lakers are winning at a pace north of 77 percent. Winning away from home without two starters is never easy.

The closing push featured key contributions from the bench. Jarred Vanderbilt made a statement after weeks out of the rotation, while Maxi Kleber and Jake LaRavia provided solid minutes. Marcus Smart drilled timely 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting from deep.

Luka Doncic joins another exclusive club

That was more than enough support for the superstars. LeBron, clearly finding his rhythm after a long absence, finished with 28 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists. Doncic was otherworldly, posting 45 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, and five steals. Together, they handed out 24 assists with just three turnovers, perhaps the most encouraging number for a team that can be shaky in that area.

Doncic scored 14 points in the first quarter and had 25 points with eight assists by halftime, keeping the Lakers afloat. When it was time to decide the game, he delivered again, including a logo 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 131-119 and felt decisive even with four minutes left.

It was the 10th 40-point triple-double of his career. Only Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Oscar Robertson have more. In Lakers history, only Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and Elgin Baylor had ever posted one, and Baylor had been the only player to do it with at least 45 points until Doncic joined him. Since steals became an official stat in 1973, only one other player has recorded at least 45 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and five steals in a game, Cade Cunningham earlier this season.

It was another exceptional night for the Slovenian and another win for the Lakers. As they continue to figure out exactly who they are and scan the trade market, they keep stacking victories. They remain firmly in the West’s crowded chase behind the Thunder, who look untouchable, and prove two things at once. It is fair to question their ceiling, but it is foolish to doubt how high their floor really is. In the regular season, that alone goes a long way.

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Utah Jazz

Stats

22 Kyle Filipowski
10 Svi Mykhailiuk
30 Jusuf Nurkić
19 Ace Bailey
3 Keyonte George
2 Kyle Anderson
13 Walter Clayton Jr.
8 Isaiah Collier
0 Taylor Hendricks
42 Kevin Love
28 Brice Sensabaugh
5 Cody Williams
16 Elijah Harkless
17 John Tonje
34 Oscar Tshiebwe

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
22 Kyle Filipowski	27	6	13	3	10	0	1	0	1	0/0	3/6	0/1	0	4	0
10 Svi Mykhailiuk	16	11	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	2/2	0/0	3/3	0	1	0
30 Jusuf Nurkić	31	15	8	4	4	7	5	1	0	4/11	4/7	1/1	0	3	0
19 Ace Bailey	26	19	4	2	2	0	1	1	0	2/6	4/7	3/6	0	2	0
3 Keyonte George	39	34	4	0	4	8	2	0	0	11/12	4/9	5/11	0	3	0
2 Kyle Anderson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
13 Walter Clayton Jr.	14	8	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1/1	2/3	1/2	0	2	0
8 Isaiah Collier	28	18	0	0	0	13	3	0	0	5/7	5/10	1/2	0	5	0
0 Taylor Hendricks	22	4	3	0	3	1	0	1	0	2/3	1/1	0/0	0	5	0
42 Kevin Love	16	5	2	0	2	1	0	0	0	2/3	0/0	1/5	0	3	0
28 Brice Sensabaugh	17	15	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	2/2	2/3	3/6	0	1	0
5 Cody Williams	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
16 Elijah Harkless	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
17 John Tonje	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
34 Oscar Tshiebwe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0

Los Angeles Lakers

Stats

28 Rui Hachimura
23 LeBron James
11 Jaxson Hayes
77 Luka Dončić
36 Marcus Smart
14 Maxi Kleber
4 Dalton Knecht
12 Jake LaRavia
3 Nick Smith Jr.
1 Adou Thiero
2 Jarred Vanderbilt
9 Bronny James Jr.
30 Chris Mañon
17 Drew Timme

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
28 Rui Hachimura	32	13	3	0	3	1	0	0	1	0/0	5/7	1/3	0	4	0
23 LeBron James	32	28	7	1	6	10	2	1	0	12/13	8/12	0/5	0	1	0
11 Jaxson Hayes	22	16	3	2	1	0	1	0	0	2/4	7/7	0/0	0	4	0
77 Luka Dončić	39	45	11	2	9	14	1	5	0	13/16	10/16	4/12	0	2	0
36 Marcus Smart	27	17	4	0	4	1	1	1	0	0/0	1/2	5/9	0	6	0
14 Maxi Kleber	19	5	2	0	2	1	0	0	1	3/4	1/1	0/1	0	3	0
4 Dalton Knecht	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/1	0	0	0
12 Jake LaRavia	28	12	6	3	3	4	1	0	0	2/2	2/2	2/4	0	5	0
3 Nick Smith Jr.	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/2	0	1	0
1 Adou Thiero	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/2	0/0	0	3	0
2 Jarred Vanderbilt	25	7	11	5	6	1	1	0	0	0/0	2/5	1/2	0	2	0
9 Bronny James Jr.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
30 Chris Mañon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
17 Drew Timme	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0