SALT LAKE CITY — When Brice Sensabaugh drilled a wide-open three pointer in the third quarter, Lakers coach JJ Redick quickly called a timeout and began to gesture with both hands toward his players, clearly showing his displeasure with their defense.
The Lakers responded.
They especially picked up their defensive intensity for an important spurt in the fourth quarter, slowing down the Utah Jazz and in the process the Lakers’ offense took off, the two converging at the right time to push them to a 143-135 win Thursday night at the Delta Center.
The Lakers built a 12-point lead in the fourth, but the Jazz continued to put stress on the Los Angeles defense, getting within four points late in the game.
The Lakers had answers every time, keeping the game in their hands behind Luka Doncic’s triple-double — 45 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers held strong to win for the third time in four games behind LeBron James’ 28 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and Marcus Smart’s 17 points that included him making three three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers got a scare when James went down holding his left knee after a collision with Utah’s Walter Clayton Jr. James was dribbling the basketball near the three-point arc when Clayton went for a steal, but instead his knee hit the inside of James’ knee, knocking the Laker to the floor with 7:52 left in the second quarter.
James eventually got up and continued to play, taking a rest with 4:53 left in the half.
He brought the crowd to its feet in the third quarter with a one-handed dunk.
The Lakers were already without starters Austin Reaves (left calf strain) and Deandre Ayton (left elbow soreness), but then they added key role player Gabe Vincent (lower back tightness) to the injury list, leaving them without three main players entering the game at Utah. Vincent will be reevaluated in a week.
Jaxson Hayes started at center in place of Ayton and Smart started at guard for Reaves.
Injuries also hit the Jazz, as star forward Lauri Markkanen, the ninth-highest scorer (27.8) in the NBA this season, was out because of a right groin injury.
His absence didn’t slow down the Jazz in the early going against a Lakers defense that was not engaged.
For two days at practice, the Lakers talked about playing with intensity on defense.
They played with little in the first quarter, allowing the Jazz to make 70% of their shots, 54.3% of their threes and score 41 points while taking a 10-point lead.
The Lakers weren’t better in the second quarter, their lack of defense allowing the Jazz to reach 78 points by halftime and hit 63.4% of its shots in the first 24 minutes, including 58.8% from three-point range.
Before the Lakers left the court for halftime, Smart was given a technical foul for arguing with the officials.
In the third quarter, Hayes and Doncic both were assessed technical fouls.
The Lakers, however, responded to their coach’s call for change and rallied for the win.
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