The Los Angeles Lakers picked up their first victory of the season, defeating the Utah Jazz on Friday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have a great opening night, as they lost to the LA Clippers, 112-102. It was a disappointing start to the season, but they wasted little time bouncing back.
In their home opener against the Utah Jazz, the Lakers got their first victory of the season. Los Angeles won the game 95-86 behind their stingy defense as they locked in on that end of the court all night.
The Lakers held Utah to 42 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line. The most impressive number for the Lakers on defense was the number of turnovers forced. Utah turned the ball over 22 times total, as they were hounded all evening.
Point guards Mike Conley and Emmanuel Mudiay struggled to hold onto the ball, as they both turned it over four times. Conley has had a disastrous start to his Jazz tenure, as he followed up a 1-of-16 shooting display in his debut with a 3-of-11 performance tonight against the Lakers.
Credit needs to be given to the Lakers’ backcourt duo of Danny Green and Avery Bradley. Both pride themselves on their defense and both played well. They were able to hold Donovan Mitchell to 24 points after he exploded for 32 during opening night.
Where the Lakers saw the biggest advantage was at the forward spot. Anthony Davis and LeBron James figure to outmatch most opponents during the season, but tonight it wasn’t even close.
Davis and James combined for 53 points on the evening while their counterparts, Jeff Green and Joe Ingles, combined for only seven points. Davis finished the game with 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and five blocks.
James looked rejuvenated tonight, as he scored 32 points with 10 assists, seven rebounds and one steal. Most importantly, James only had one turnover after having five in the season opener.
In the first game of the season against the Clippers, the Lakers bench struggled to make much of an impact. Tonight, they got strong games from Troy Daniels and Dwight Howard with the second unit.
Daniels knocked down four 3-points, finishing the game with 15 points. Howard only scored two points but made his presence felt in the paint. He did exactly what the Lakers brought him to do, as he pulled down seven rebounds with two blocks, two steals and two assists.
While it wasn’t a perfect performance, the Lakers got a much-needed win against a very strong Jazz squad. They will look to keep things rolling when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday evening at the STAPLES Center.