Utah Jazz Defeat Luka Doncic, LeBron James-led Lakers 131-119-Deset News

After being a reflection in Luka Doncic’s Lakers debut earlier this week, the jazz show stole the show in Wednesday’s successor.

A balanced scoring attack and explosive third quarter pushed Utah past Doncic, LeBron James and company at 131-119 fashion at Delta Center and undoubtedly earned the season’s most satisfying victory for the reconstruction of jazz.

“It’s a really good jumping room,” Jazz said head coach, as Hardy told journalists after the game. “The couple of things covered in shooting around and on the defensive side of the ball, I thought improved drastically tonight. I thought our overall efforts, persistence and competitiveness and just a kind of flying factor were far different from the last game.

“… I thought we dictated the pace of tonight’s game,” Hardy continued. “It always makes you feel good when the team shows the ability to learn and jump back. There are nights coming that do not go our way, but the way they approached the evening’s game is the piece that I am most proud of. “

By keeping an eight-point advantage at the break, the jazz exploded for a 24-4 race over a five-and-a-half minute period in the third quarter to all except Bury Los Angeles. Utah’s energy and congestion flummoxed with the sleep hike, all-star break-ready lakers that couldn’t buy a basket or follow the jazz in the transition.

“At that time everything worked (worked),” said Jazz Center Walker Kessler. “We were driving in transition, attacking the edge, shooting well, playing good defense and getting a stop. I think that with our team we are on our strongest when we get a stop and just come out in the transition. We have many young guys who can run really well, so it will be good for us to continue working on. “

In addition, jazz employed some new zone schedules defensively that caused Laker’s problems with their offensive end. Only scoring 22 paint points through three quarters has certainly hurt LA, as Kessler locked the post with six blocks in the evening.

“As staff, we felt that this time of year is a good time to bring the zone back into the fold,” Hardy said of his team’s defensive game plan. “It keeps everyone’s brains sharp. It starts kind of your brain again, it’s something else entirely. It was a kind of sense of monotony where you just repeat the same things over and over again about man, and the zone really comes down to communication and problem solving and encryption. There are some rules, but there are also situations where it requires players to really communicate and solve these problems. “

Utah’s watch trio of Jordan Clarkson, Isaiah Collier and Keyonte George were flattened out brilliantly and accounts for a combined 51 points, 23 rebounds, 26 assists and only six total revenue.

Against superstars Doncic and James, it was the jazz’s own former All-Star Lauri Markkanen, who made the most noise, scoring 32 points with five rebounds, three steals, six made 3-Pointers and a number of epic dunks to a good scale.

John Collins added 17 points and eight rebounds, while Walker Kessler placed 16 points with another eight boards in addition to his excellent rhyme protection.

Doncic and James enjoyed a few flashes of how good their mating can move on, along with 34 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, but also coughing eight revenue against Utah’s inspired defense.

With just under eight minutes left in the competition and down with 22, Los Angeles essentially waved the white flag by putting bronny James on the floor, only for Lebron’s son to scrape together a career high nine point-with delta center audience broke out of Every time he touched the ball – to help make Lakers’ final deficit seem more respectable.

With the victory, jazz is now moving to 13-40 on the season with a competition back before the All-Star break. While Utah’s campaign has seen far more low than heights, Hardy credited his team for strengthening its overall resilience in the midst of the continued attempts.

“The players deserve all the honor,” Hardy said. “They are all tough, they are all smart, they are all really good people, they are good teammates, they are respectful people, they have humility, they take coaching, they take ownership of the things they need to do it better. We do not have a group pointing fingers, we do not have a group that complains out of their breaths … but they deserve all the credit because in the end the character of the group is one you know, a merger of all their characters individually . “

Utah Jazz Center Walker Kessler (24) is moving after scoring against Lakers in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News