LOS ANGELES — When the NBA instituted its inaugural in-season tournament, the hope was that it would create an early-season buzz that would help make the early phase of the season feel more meaningful. So far, the plan has worked.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said his team was “well aware” of what was on the line in Tuesday night’s home game against the Utah Jazz.
And they played like it.
The Lakers (9-6) led wire-to-wire in a 131-99 victory over the Jazz at Crypto.com Arena to go undefeated (4-0) in group play and advance to the tournament quarterfinals. The Lakers, who beat Phoenix, Memphis, Portland and Utah by a combined 74 points, have clinched at least a top-two seed (likely No. 1) and will host a Western Conference opponent to be determined on Dec. 4 or 5.
With dominating interior play from Anthony Davis (26 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and two steals), well-rounded performances from LeBron James (17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds), D’Angelo Russell (20 points on 7-of-9 shooting with eight assists) and Austin Reaves (19 points, five assists and five rebounds) in addition to strong supporting play, the Lakers clinched West Group A with the victory.
The signs of a dominant performance by the Lakers showed early, with Russell assisting James on an alley-oop for the game’s first points early in the first and two of the Lakers’ first baskets being dunks to take a 6-4 lead.
The Lakers, who have won six of their past seven games overall and are now 7-1 at home, led by 15 at the end of the first quarter, by 21 at halftime and by 30 late in the third quarter before seeing the margin balloon to 39 during the fourth quarter.
With the Lakers on the first night of a back-to-back and the game well out of hand, Ham sat James (24 minutes) and Davis (29 minutes) for the entire fourth quarter.
Christian Wood (season-high 16 points, eight rebounds), Rui Hachimura (12 points, six rebounds) and Jaxson Hayes (10 points) also scored in double figures. Cam Reddish was ruled out of the game in the second quarter because of groin soreness.
The Lakers have been at their best so far during tournament games. They outscored their opponents by 18.5 per game in their four group play games, compared to going 5-6 and being outscored by six points per game in their non-tournament games.
The Lakers will return to Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night to play the Dallas Mavericks.
MILESTONE
With his 3-pointer that put the Lakers ahead 11-7 with 7:11 in the first quarter, James scored his 39,002nd regular-season career point – becoming the first player in league history to score at least 39,000 points.
James, who became the league’s all-time leading scorer last season, entered Tuesday with 38,995 career regular-season points.
The four-time league MVP entered the matchup averaging 26.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.7 steals in 34.4 minutes. No player in league history has averaged more than eight points in their 21st NBA season.
“We’re witnessing something that’s unprecedented, for him to be at that age and at this point in time in his NBA tenure,” Ham said. “And what he’s able to do still, it’s unprecedented in my opinion, especially being a predominantly perimeter player. Obviously, he can go in the post and get things done. But the majority part of his career, he’s been on the perimeter and it’s hard.
“What he’s still able to do at this point in time is nothing short of amazing. And you see why he pours all the resources that he puts into his body and making sure that, again, that he’s not only available but available at a super duper high level. We all should appreciate what we’re witnessing and not take it for granted.”
