As Lakers wait on Anthony Davis and LeBron James, Jazz get reinforcements and revenge
The bass line thumped during the second quarter Monday night, LeBron James rocking perfectly on beat to the music that echoed inside Staples Center during a timeout. While his teammates huddled, James floated closer to the floor, talking with members of the Lakers’ coaching and training staff.
Seconds later, he quickly shuffled his feet like Muhammad Ali getting ready to fire a fast jab.
Meanwhile, Anthony Davis slowly backed onto the floor underneath the basket. He pretended to dribble an imaginary basketball through his long legs, shaking his shoulders.
Center Andre Drummond had his best game for the Lakers in the defeat of Utah, making big defensive plays before helping seal the victory in overtime.
It was a glimpse at the Lakers’ future, soundtracked perfectly by the in-house DJ, who was playing Next’s “Too Close.”
Neither of the Lakers’ stars was on the floor when their team lost to Utah 111-97, but if the end to one rough chapter of this season isn’t here yet, it’s certainly close.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel proclaimed Davis “healthy” before tipoff, Davis’ insufficient conditioning levels forcing him to miss his 30th consecutive game. But with two days before the Lakers play a pair in Dallas, there’s a strong chance Davis rejoins the team against the Mavericks.
And then there’s James, whom the Lakers have been quiet about since he suffered a high-ankle sprain against Atlanta a month ago. Before the Lakers’ loss to Utah, Vogel said James had been doing on-court work.
“It’s still light work on the court, but he is doing court work and progressing each day — just trying to do a little bit more with his activity each day,” Vogel said.
James has missed the Lakers’ last 16 games, the team scrapping to win seven.
But before anyone gets too caught up in the idea of James and Davis running up and down the court together for the first time since mid-February, Monday was a reminder of the position the Lakers are still very much in.
The Lakers are stuck in the chapter of this season in which every night is a fight, the Lakers almost always undermanned and with less healthy talent than their opponent. Even with Utah missing star Donovan Mitchell, the return of Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert to the Jazz meant the Lakers were going to need to be pretty great to have a shot at winning two in a row against the team with the top record in the NBA.
The Lakers opened by hitting five of six from three-point range, but they still trailed. They found almost no gaps near the basket with Gobert on patrol, fellow big men Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell both badly struggling against one of the NBA’s premier defenders.
And then there’s what the Jazz do better than anyone else — control the game from the perimeter.
Utah, wearing jerseys matching the green light coach Quin Snyder has given all his shooters, made the most of its advantage from beyond the arc, as it has in all three games against the Lakers this season.
Highlights from the Lakers’ 111-97 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday at Staples Center.
“I’d rather have someone go 0 for 10 than two for two,” Snyder even said before the game, great news for amateur jump shooters everywhere.
Monday, Utah was bashful by its standards. The Jazz attempted only 33 three-pointers, 10 fewer than their season average, but they made 15. And with their reputation proceeding them, they were able to feast on a relatively soft Lakers interior, outscoring them 52-36 in the paint.
“We had a poor performance,” Vogel said, despite Talen Horton-Tucker’s 24 points.
The Jazz won for the second time against the Lakers, fueled largely by their ability to score from deep while still being a major threat at the rim. If the teams cross paths again, it’ll be hard to guess how things will go. Davis missed all three meetings. James and Mitchell missed the last two.
As the teams wrap up the regular season over the next month, both Utah and the Lakers should get back to full strength barring any setbacks. And if the brackets break the right way, we might not have to wait long to see how Utah’s long-range offense matches up with Davis and James back on the court.
“I’m sure we’ll meet up with them in the future,” Kyle Kuzma said.
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