AD goes off as Lakers find rhythm in win over Jazz

Following a rough night against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers did some fine tuning in their 116-108 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.

L.A. did a better job of making its 3-point attempts against the Jazz, going 9-26 from behind the arc, but the team also enjoyed success from just about everywhere else on the floor, shooting 50% from the field — a stark contrast from the 35.4% they shot against the Raptors. One player stood out from behind the arc, though, and it was Davis

In 38:49, Davis made a team-high four three 3-pointers — including a four-point play to seal the game — on eight attempts. Obviously, it’s never a bad thing when Davis is making 3-pointers, but it was especially valuable against the Jazz, who have an elite rim protector in Rudy Gobert. With Davis converting his 3-point attempts at a high rate, Gobert had to play out on the perimeter a little more, which opened things up for the Lakers offensively.

Davis ended the game with a 42 points on 13-28 shooting from the field, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Nothing but respect for my Defensive Player of the Year.

LeBron James also ended the night with a monster stat line after having a pedestrian first half, tallying 22 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. He also shot above 50% from the field (56.3%) for the first time since the season restarted.

Overall, the Lakers had an efficient scoring night, which was a product of them being able to control the pace on both ends of the floor, something they struggled to do against a scrappy Raptors team on Saturday. As the Lakers try and get their legs back under them, they’re going to look better against teams that don’t play especially fast. In other words, Thursday’s game against Houston should be interesting.

With a win against the Jazz, the Lakers locked up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They will be back at in on Wednesday to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first game of a bubble back-to-back.

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