Until the end they had to squeeze the lakers in a match that will more than likely place them between fifth and eighth place in the Western Conference, with some advantage whatever the destination, after having had such a bad time this season. It is their way of doing things and they will be able to continue doing it that way a little longer. The Jazz were measured in one of their two meetings this week, in which the regular phase closes, and with those from Utah having reserved troops after seeing themselves without so many options to climb into the top ten places.
The locals, a team full of remnants (also with ex-Lakers like Tucker or Jones), did not respond to strategies of tanking. Neither of their two starting insiders, Markkanen and Kessler, played the day Anthony Davis came with 38.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in the last three games; neither were two veterans like Jordan Clarkson and Rudy Gay. The rest of the team wants to win. The orders did not matter, more or less implicit. Those from LA are always a sweetie for anyone, a rival to beat, whatever situation you are in. This was taken by some of the less common, such as Agbaji (22), Samanic (12), a wild Kelly Olynyk (23) or the aforementioned Damian Jones (15). They sent it to the extension. Up to that point, those of Ham had to press, with the tightness of those playoffs who now go more towards yes than no. 133-135 was the result with which he concluded tonight at the Vivint.
It was time to see the most energetic Jazz in the last stretch, the final two and a half minutes, to further lengthen the confrontation. The agony, in the case of the Angelenos. They came back ten points, equalized and it was the turn of LeBron James, the best of the night. The Akron forward missed the shot with which he could end it all in regulation, a left-footed layup well defended by Jones under the rim, and he noted down that failure in his mind to tag it later. This is how it happened, that with a play of the same style but more complicated and with the right he fixed the problem his way.
In the tumult to reach the play-in There is still room for the Jazz, more because of the demerit of the others than because of what they put on this Tuesday. That was not little, but not enough. They remain two short of the cut for tenth place, set by the Thunder (defeated by Golden State), and therefore still not eliminated. There the eyes go to the Mavericks, in ninth place and with air despite not playing until tomorrow. Above, the Suns have already secured fourth place, they will face fifth, and there is a triple tie between Warriors (5th), Clippers (6th) and Lakers (7th) that will send one of them to the torture of spending one or two more filters to reach series by title. Impossible to make calculations in a sea as choppy as that of the West this year. But LeBron, the oldest in the place, knew that things were decided today, also by the opponent’s position, and he responded with 37 points.above 50% in shots, having to “redeem” the mistake of the last quarter and “fix it” in extra time, as the one from Ohio explained.
These Lakers like risk. They won by 10 points with 2:30 to go (111-121). Reaves made 7 of his 28 — what shape is the forward in — at that point. Utah responded with two triples, one from Jones and one from Agbaji, reduced the distance to seven and then added another shot, this one crazier, from Olynyk on the run and hitting the glass to leave his team two points behind. There came the failure of LeBron James and the double prominence that he gave to ex-teammate Damian Jones: the center was fouled by the star on the other side, which gave him the option of free throws that tied the game (124-124). , and then defended his basket attempt well. In overtime only those two protagonists of the Lakers scored: Reaves, four, and James, nine. In the final minute Talen Horton-Tucker, 22 years old and champion with California in the 2020 bubble, missed from personal first and a shot from five meters after they had changed the course of events. Those in purple and gold face a crucial derby with the Clippers just one day later, with their 41-38 in the table, leaving the Suns and, again, the Jazz for the weekend in this fight to open up step among the best.
|
30
ochai agbaji |
|
twenty
Udoka Azubuike |
|
eleven
Kris Dunn |
|
16
Simone Fontecchio |
|
0
Talen Horton-Tucker |
|
fifteen
damian jones |
|
33
Johnny Juzang |
|
41
kelly olynyk |
|
25
Micah Potter |
|
19
luka samanic |
|
2
collin sexton |
|
95
Juan Toscano-Anderson |
| Min | pts | RT | RO | DR | Ast | Per | rec | Tap | T1 | T2 | T3 | FR | CF | Val | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
30
ochai agbaji | 38 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4/4 | 3/7 | 4/8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
|
twenty
Udoka Azubuike | twenty | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
|
eleven
Kris Dunn | 26 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2/2 | 4/7 | 0/1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
|
16
Simone Fontecchio | twenty-one | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 2/4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
|
0
Talen Horton-Tucker | 37 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9/13 | 7/17 | 0/4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
|
fifteen
damian jones | 32 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3/4 | 2/2 | 3/3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
|
33
Johnny Juzang | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
|
41
kelly olynyk | 35 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5/6 | 3/6 | 4/4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
|
25
Micah Potter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
|
19
luka samanic | 22 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 3/3 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
|
2
collin sexton | fifteen | fifteen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 7/9 | 0/5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
|
95
Juan Toscano-Anderson | fifteen | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 2/4 | 0/1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
|
5
Malik Beasley |
|
7
Troy Brown Jr. |
|
10
max christie |
|
3
Anthony Davis |
|
35
wenyen gabriel |
|
28
Rui Hachimura |
|
6
Lebron James |
|
fifteen
austin reaves |
|
eleven
Davon Reed |
|
17
Dennis Schröder |
|
twenty
Cole Swider |
|
2
jarred vanderbilt |
|
4
Lonnie Walker IV |
| Min | pts | RT | RO | DR | Ast | Per | rec | Tap | T1 | T2 | T3 | FR | CF | Val | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5
Malik Beasley | twenty-one | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/1 | 0/2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
|
7
Troy Brown Jr. | 25 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
|
10
max christie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
|
3
Anthony Davis | 42 | twenty-one | 14 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7/12 | 7/16 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
|
35
wenyen gabriel | 10 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
|
28
Rui Hachimura | 25 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 6/7 | 1/4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
|
6
Lebron James | 38 | 37 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6/6 | 11/17 | 3/10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
|
fifteen
austin reaves | 41 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8/8 | 4/6 | 4/7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
|
eleven
Davon Reed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
|
17
Dennis Schröder | 41 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3/4 | 6/13 | 1/5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
|
twenty
Cole Swider | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
|
2
jarred vanderbilt | 18 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
|
4
Lonnie Walker IV | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |