Laker

Lakers guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 for making an obscene gesture toward a game official during halftime of the game Thursday against the Utah Jazz, the NBA announced Saturday.

Smart was assessed a technical foul for his action as walked off the court for intermission after exchanging words with an official.

The Lakers pulled out a 143-135 victory in Salt Lake City when the 31-year-old defensive specialist scored nine of his 17 points by making three of four three-point shots in the fourth quarter.

Smart, who is averaging 10.6 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 17 games this season, will again be in the starting lineup Saturday night in place of injured Austin Reaves when the Lakers take on the Clippers at Intuit Dome.

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 gave up 41 points in the first quarter and a season-high 78 at the half. They allowed 57 points in the second half and put the Jazz away by scoring 41 points in the fourth quarter.

“Obviously we know this Utah team can score points at a very high rate, but it was very imperative that we got stops,” said LeBron James, who had another productive night with 28 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. “We had to get stops to start that fourth and then it allowed our offense to click.”

But even with the Lakers building a 12-point lead in the fourth, the Jazz continued to put stress on L.A.’s defense, getting within four points late in the game.

The Lakers’ Lebron James dunks over the Jazz’s Kyle Filipowski at Delta Center Thursday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.

(Alex Goodlett / Getty Images)

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.

His 45-point triple-double and five steals made Doncic just the second player in NBA history to accomplish that feat since steals became official in 1973-74. Detroit Cade Cunningham (46 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals) is the other player to do so, producing that against the Wizards on Nov. 2025 in overtime.

Doncic was 14-for-28 from the field, four-for-12 from three-point range and had just one turnover in 39 minutes and 33 seconds of play.

Doncic also was the first Laker to have a 40-point triple-double since Magic Johnson in 1981.

“I think, honestly, I could do so much more,” Doncic said. “But I think that one turnover is the best stat-wise on this stat sheet. So, we had seven turnovers, which is impressive for us and we won the game. And again, that’s what matters. But I think we locked in a lot in the second half. We did a great job.”

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.

James described what happened on the play.

“Just a little bolt to the knee, like a sharp pain to the knee,” James said. “Got kneed on the the inside, like the medial side of the knee. And just kind of wanted to take my time a little bit as it calmed down or whatever the case may be. Or hoping it calmed down. Told Mike (Mancias) my trainer, I said, ‘We dodged a bullet there.’ ”

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.

Lakers guard Luka Doncic celebrates after making a play during the second half of a win over the Jazz Thursday night at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

(Alex Goodlett / Getty Images)

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.

Smart had 17 points, which included him going three-for-four from three-point range in the fourth quarter.

Hayes had 16 points, making all seven of his field goals.

Redick talked to his team at halftime about their poor defensive effort and he did again in the third quarter during that timeout.

His message was simple.

“The players gotta go out and do it,”: Redick said. “So it’s not, I don’t know if it sparked ‘em or not, and I just know that after that they were better.”

The answer was entirely predictable: “Good.”

The question that elicited the response above from Austin Reaves: How was he feeling physically?

Reaves doesn’t make excuses, and he wasn’t about to start now, not in the wake of a 132-119 defeat by the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night.

Except Reaves didn’t look “good” in the loss.

He finished with a modest 15 points, including only four in the first half.

The underwhelming performance followed an 11-point game against the Philadelphia 76ers three days earlier.

“Just didn’t get the ball to go in the basket,” Reaves said.

Or was it something more?

Was the offensive burden he shouldered up to this point starting to take a toll on him?

Had the former undrafted free agent really elevated his game to a new level or was he just on a six-week heater?

The answers will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The Lakers, however, already know they can’t win with Reaves playing the way he did against the Spurs, when he made only two of six shots in the opening half.

Reaves has to score for this version of the Lakers to beat a team like the Spurs. He has to score because they can’t stop anyone.

Their on-ball perimeter defense is atrocious.

Their three-point defense is dreadful.

Their transition defense is shocking.

“Very few teams don’t have something that you can expose and we consistently got exposed to the same things,” coach JJ Redick said.

Bill Parcells once said you are what your record says you are, but that might not be the case with the Lakers, who are 17-7.

In their last six games, Lakers opponents have shot 49%, including 45% on threes. Redick’s team has allowed an average of 122 points per game.

“The things that help you win on the margins, we’re just not very good at right now,” Redick said.

The defense against the Spurs was particularly awful, the visitors making 50% of their threes in the first two periods to take a 70-58 lead into halftime with their franchise player Victor Wembanyama sidelined with a calf injury.

The Spurs’ athleticism clearly troubled the Lakers, who lack footspeed on the perimeter.

“They were just going downhill, driving and [kicking],” Lakers guard Luka Doncic said. “They scored like 10 three-pointers in the first half. They got up real quickly.”

Spurs guard Stephon Castle finished the game with 30 points. He was one of seven players to score in double figures. The Lakers were behind by as many as 24 points.

“Obviously, it’s a unique team,” Lakers forward LeBron James said. “They got six or seven guys that can break you off the dribble. Super fast, super quick.”

Unlike the Lakers, who have slow-moving guards in Doncic and Reaves, a 40-year-old player in James and an inconsistent center in Deandre Ayton.

The Lakers were eliminated in the playoffs last season by a more physically gifted team in the Minnesota Timberwolves and they once again look incapable of overcoming such a disadvantage this time around.

Asked what they could do to remedy their defensive shortcomings, James replied: “I mean, obviously, you can’t do it individually by yourself. It has to be five guys on a string, communication always at an all-time high, letting you know what’s going on behind you and things of that nature.”

Redick shared a similar view, but made it sound as if the process could take time. In the meantime, he said he expected Reaves to recover from his two-game slump.

Even after the Spurs game, Reaves ranked ninth in the NBA in scoring at 27.8 points per game.

“Yeah, look, the reality is the guy carried us for six weeks and that takes a toll on you,” Redick said. “He kept fighting and I appreciate that. But he’s gonna have a lot more great nights than frustrating nights.”

He better. More frustrating nights for Reaves figure to result in more frustrating nights for the Lakers.