Time was ticking and the ball, as it has been for most of the last two decades of professional basketball, was in play. LeBron James hands.
Throughout the fourth quarter, he relentlessly tried to find ways to score, with the mismatch always in his favor and, for the most part, the ball just wasn’t going in. On a crucial possession in the fourth, the Lakers grabbed offensive rebound after offensive rebound only for James to miss three three-pointers on the same possession.
But it’s a style of play that has resulted in championships and building a reputation for James as one of the best, if not the greatest, to ever play the game. This is not the style expected for JJ Redick’s Lakers, however.
The Lakers were stuck in this situation throughout the fourth quarter on Sunday, another missed three opening the door for the Jazz to steal a victory. But Utah coach Will Hardy called a late timeout after James missed three, the whistle coming in a blink of an eye before Collin Sexton scored the game-winner.
After the timeout, the Jazz didn’t get a clear look as the Lakers escaped with a 105-104 victory to begin a four-game road trip with much of their roster unavailable.
Anthony Davis scored 33, James added 27 on a night where he missed all nine threes and Rui Hachimura scored 13 for the short-handed Lakers.
The symptoms of those affected are real. For D’Angelo Russell and Cam Reddish, it was illnesses that prevented them from coming to the rink on Sunday. And for Austin Reaves, it was the pain from a scary fall Friday that made standing still a little dicey.
But the NBA world is unfriendly. And problems for Reaves, Russell and Reddish meant opportunities for Gabe Vincent, Max Christie and forgotten second-year guard Jalen Hood-Schifino.
Minus 40% of their regular rotation (including the injured Jaxson Hayes), the players around James and Davis had no choice but to scramble.
Vincent scored a season-high 10 points and forced a key late turnover when he aggressively defended John Collins in the post.
Reaves’ back injury, which the Lakers call a left pelvic contusion, ended a streak of 129 consecutive regular-season games, a streak that also included 21 playoff games, two play-in games and a tournament final during the season.
The Lakers play again Monday in Minneapolis.
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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
