The Lakers rolled to a win over the Jazz behind Rui Hachimura, Anthony Davis, and a rediscovered identity.
While LeBron James chilled, the Los Angeles Lakers enjoyed a reaffirming road win over the Utah Jazz, 138-122, to hit the All-Star break in high spirits. Led by Anthony Davis (37 points) and Rui Hachimura (career-high 33 points), the Lakers punctuated their eventful first chunk of the season on a high note, after all.
The Lakers (30-26) have won six of seven. Their once-middling offense has sprung to life, evidenced by yet another game with 30+ assists, efficient shooting, and a low turnover count.
“We’re just playing the right way, sharing the basketball, playing together,” said AD. “We’re just in a great groove. We’re having fun. … It’s fun to watch from the side, and also fun to be a part of.”
The Lakers aced a sneakily tough test. On the second leg of a back-to-back, the Lakers arrived in Salt Lake City in the wee hours of the morning. LeBron James announced after last night he would sit out. Instead, they took care of business.
“It’s kind of one of those trap games, right before All-Star and you’re on the road, you get in late, you can easily fold,” stressed AD. “As coach Ham said, this is a good ‘quality of life’ win.”
D’Angelo Russell dished out a career-high 17 dimes. Austin Reaves had 22 points and seven assists. Spencer Dinwiddie (10 points, four assists) was impactful off the bench. The Lakers shot 45.2% from 3 thanks to a bevy of open looks.
Hachimura, in particular, has loudly responded to the challenge the Lakers issued after a zombie-like outing against the Denver Nuggets. In the three games since, Hachimura has posted 21, 15, and 36 points on 56.1% shooting. Hachimura shot 13-of-19 at the Delta Center, drilled a career-high six 3s, and posted a team-best +25. (LeBron was amped.)
“The team’s the coaches, they tried to engage me more in offense,” said Hachimura.
“(He can be) extremely dangerous,” said Ham. “He very rarely has two bad games in a row. I just told him before that New Orleans game … after losing to Denver: I need you to come out and play like a wild man.
“He’s in a good space. He’s having fun with his teammates. Having fun playing the game. And he heard us loud and clear with us encouraging him. we need Rui to be great in order for us to be great.”
“I want to be the X-factor on the team,” said Hui.
After four months of basketball largely defined by inconsistency (with a championship mixed in), the Lakers finally, maybe, have found clarity.
“I’ve been telling ’em, like, this is who we are,” said Hachimura. “We’ve been trying like a lot of different things, lineups and all this stuff. But this is the lineup we had in the playoffs, and that’s how we won. So, you know, it’s that simple.”
So the Lakers might feel good about the state of their team as they hit the 10-day hiatus. The question is, can they keep the good times rolling?
“It’s game whatever and we gotta have our identity. And we’re starting to establish that,” said Anthony Davis. “This is who we are. And we got to make sure that how we’re playing as of late … keeping that identity and carrying it over to post-All-Star.”
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