Utah

In the starting lineup, coming off the bench or even on the pickleball court, Marcus Smart knows he can deliver what the Lakers need. So LeBron James’ return and the question of how it could affect his role isn’t slowing down Smart.

“I like to [think of] myself as a Swiss Army knife,” Smart said Saturday as the Lakers prepared for a game at Utah on Sunday. “It’s not one thing I do great, but I do everything very well. … People come back, people get hurt. People have great games, have bad games. You have to adjust to whatever the game is calling for at that moment.”

With four days to regroup after James made his long-awaited season debut, the Lakers (11-4) want to continue their strong start. Smart had started nine times in a row before James’ return. Smart then played a season-low 17 minutes in Tuesday’s 140-126 win against the Jazz at home, scoring five points with three rebounds. He made just two shots, but coach JJ Redick commended Smart’s play off the bench along with the performances of Jake LaRavia, Jaxson Hayes and Gabe Vincent.

Vincent returned from a sprained ankle that cost him 11 games to score six points on two-for-three shooting from three-point range. LaRavia led the bench group with 16 points and four rebounds. He was six for 10 from the field, including two three-pointers.

Signing as a free agent this offseason, LaRavia knew getting to play with James was part of the deal. He had to wait through training camp, the preseason and 14 games to get his wish, but it was worth it. The 24-year-old LaRavia, who was five days shy of his second birthday when James made his NBA debut, knocked down a first-quarter shot off a James assist.

“It was dope to finally get on the court with him,” LaRavia said. “He brings something to this team that I don’t think we really had. It’s another level of passing ability that he’s able to do, and just the force he is on offense in transition and just when he has the ball in his hands.”

The Lakers are tied for the second-fewest transition possessions per game but they’ve been picking up the pace. Through the first nine games the team was scoring 9.5% of its points in transition. That mark ticked up to 13.4% in the last five games.

Utah (5-10) is one of the fastest teams, averaging 102.6 possessions per game. With pace increasing over the years, the heavier workloads have made minor soft-tissue injuries unfortunate realities in the NBA. They also make extended breaks between games, like the four-day reprieve the Lakers had last week, a major luxury.

In between much-needed rest and efficient practice sessions for a team that has been fully healthy for only a week, the Lakers also used the time for team bonding in the form of a trash-talk-filled pickleball tournament.

Smart and Redick and a third teammate, head video coordinator Michael Wexler — whom Redick anonymously accused of eating during the entire tournament — went to the semifinals. They lost to Luka Doncic and player development coach Ty Abbott. LaRavia and assistant coach Beau Levesque won the championship. Redick raised questions about the fairness of the team pairings.

As with everything involving ultracompetitive athletes, even the innocent pickleball games got heated. Smart was trying to be mindful to not push his limits too much.

“The last thing I need to get out and do is roll my ankle trying to play pickleball,” said Smart, who said he would rather play tennis.

It was still a welcome break from the monotony of the season, Redick said. He graded the experience an A.

“We got through this week without wanting to kill each other,” Redick said with a smirk.

Etc.

Center Deandre Ayton missed practice Saturday because of an illness. He was expected to join the team on the trip to Utah.

James began his 23rd NBA season in Lakers’ home win as Curry’s Warriors lost to Orlando Magic despite his 34 points.

LeBron James has broken the record for most NBA seasons after appearing for the Los Angeles Lakers in his 23rd after missing almost the first full month of the campaign due to sciatica.

The 40-year-old superstar, a four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, missed the Lakers first 14 games before taking the court at home against Utah Jazz on Tuesday.

The Lakers rallied for a 140-126 victory over the visiting Jazz.

James, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, practiced with the Lakers on Monday and had no pain or soreness after his first game-style workout with the club since last season’s playoffs.

That set the stage for him to start against the Jazz, breaking a tie with Vince Carter for the most career seasons in NBA history.

The home crowd cheered as James was introduced and moments later James made history when the game tipped off.

👑 SEASON 23 FOR THE KING 👑 pic.twitter.com/SF09U3pZxe

— NBA (@NBA) November 19, 2025

Meanwhile, the Detroit Pistons stretched their longest winning streak since 2008 to 11 games with a 120-112 victory in Atlanta, snapping the Hawks’ five-game win streak.

The Pistons, who lead the Eastern Conference at 13-2, got 25 points and 10 assists from Cade Cunningham and 24 points with eight rebounds from Jalen Duren.

Jalen Johnson sparked Atlanta (9-6) with 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

At Brooklyn, Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Payton Pritchard added 22 and 10 rebounds to spark the Boston Celtics in a 113-99 victory over the Nets.

Desmond Bane scored 23 points and reserve Anthony Black added 21 to lead the Orlando Magic over the visiting Golden State Warriors 121-113.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors (9-7) with 34 points while Jimmy Butler added 33 in a losing cause.

At San Antonio, De’Aaron Fox scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half and Harrison Barnes added 23 to spark the host Spurs over Memphis 111-101.

The Spurs (10-4) were without star big man Victor Wembanyama due to a left calf strain and guard Stephon Castle with a left hip flexor strain while Memphis star guard Ja Morant was sidelined by a right calf strain.

“We are trying to do this as a collective. There’s no replacing Vic,” Barnes said. “Were just trying to find ways to win, share the ball, move the ball, that’s how we’ll do that.”

Barnes scored the first seven points in an 11-0 game-closing run to secure the victory.

“Harrison Barnes carried us through this. That’s just what a vet does,” Fox said. “It felt great winning the game with all the guys we have out.

“We have a team and we know that when one guy goes down we have a number of guys that can step up. No one guy will take up the slack for one being out.”

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah judge on Monday rejected a new congressional map drawn by Republican lawmakers, adopting an alternate proposal creating a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Republicans hold all four of Utah’s U.S. House seats and had advanced a map poised to protect them.

Judge Dianna Gibson ruled just before a midnight deadline that the Legislature’s new map “unduly favors Republicans and disfavors Democrats.”

She had ordered lawmakers to draw a map that complies with standards established by voters to ensure districts don’t deliberately favor a party, a practice known as gerrymandering. If they failed, Gibson warned she may consider other maps submitted by plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led her to throw out Utah’s existing map.

Gibson ultimately selected a map drawn by plaintiffs, the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government. It keeps Salt Lake County almost entirely within one district, instead of dividing the heavily Democratic population center among all four districts, as was the case previously.

The judge’s ruling throws a curveball for Republicans in a state where they expected a clean sweep as they’re working to add winnable seats elsewhere. Nationally, Democrats need to net three U.S. House seats next year to wrest control of the chamber from the GOP, which is trying to buck a historic pattern of the president’s party losing seats in the midterms.

The newly approved map gives Democrats a much stronger chance to flip a seat in a state that has not had a Democrat in Congress since early 2021.

“This is a win for every Utahn,” said state House and Senate Democrats in a joint statement. “We took an oath to serve the people of Utah, and fair representation is the truest measure of that promise.”

In August, Gibson struck down the Utah congressional map adopted after the 2020 census because the Legislature had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters.

The ruling thrust Utah into a national redistricting battle as President Trump urged other Republican-led states to take up mid-decade redistricting to try to help the GOP retain control of the House in 2026. Some Democratic states are considering new maps of their own, with California voters approving a map last week that gives Democrats a shot at winning five more seats. Republicans are still ahead in the redistricting fight.

Redistricting typically occurs once a decade after a census. There are no federal restrictions to redrawing districts mid-decade, but some states — more led by Democrats than Republicans — set their own limitations. The Utah ruling gives an unexpected boost to Democrats, who have fewer opportunities to gain seats through redistricting.

If Gibson had instead approved the map drawn by lawmakers, all four districts would still lean Republican but two would have become slightly competitive for Democrats. Their proposal gambled on Republicans’ ability to protect all four seats under much slimmer margins rather than create a single-left leaning district.

The ruling came minutes before midnight on the day the state’s top election official said was the latest possible date to enact a new congressional map so county clerks would have enough time to prepare for candidate filings for the 2026 midterms.

Republicans have argued Gibson does not have legal authority to enact a map that wasn’t approved by the Legislature. State Rep. Matt MacPherson called the ruling a “gross abuse of power” and said he has opened a bill to pursue impeachment against Gibson.

Gibson said in her ruling she has an obligation to ensure a lawful map is in place by the deadline.

Schoenbaum writes for the Associated Press.