The Los Angeles Lakers walked into Thursday night’s matchup against the Utah Jazz with defense on their minds. After holding two practices earlier in the week focused solely on tightening up that side of the ball, they promptly gave up 78 points in the first half.
But when you’ve got Luka Doncic and LeBron James running the show, sometimes defense becomes more of a suggestion than a necessity. The Lakers leaned on their offensive firepower to outgun the Jazz in a 143-135 shootout.
Lakers’ Offense Keeps Bailing Out a Leaky Defense
Let’s start with the obvious: scoring 143 points without Austin Reaves is no small feat. The Lakers exploded for two separate 41-point quarters and got elite-level performances from their stars.
Luka Doncic posted a monster triple-double - 45 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists - and it wasn’t just for show. The Lakers needed every bit of it to survive a late push from a young Jazz squad that cut a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit down to four before the Lakers finally shut the door.
But for all the fireworks on offense, this game also underscored a growing concern: the Lakers’ defense is a problem. A big one.
They allowed a Jazz team - one that gave 72% of its minutes to players aged 22 or younger - to hang 135 points on them. Utah shot 49% from deep, and that’s not just a hot night; it’s part of a trend.
The Lakers are allowing opponents to shoot 38.5% from three this season, the second-worst mark in the league.
That’s not the kind of stat you want to carry into the playoffs, let alone the dog days of the regular season.
Redick’s Defensive Challenge Falls Flat Early
Head coach JJ Redick reportedly challenged Doncic and James to bring more intensity on the defensive end this week. The response?
Utah shot 70% in the first quarter and dropped 41 points. Doncic was on the floor for nearly the entire period, and the Lakers looked a step slow across the board.
The second quarter wasn’t much better - the Jazz poured in another 37, including 13 points from Keyonte George, who finished with 34 on the night.
The Lakers just don’t generate enough disruption. They don’t force turnovers at a high rate, they don’t block many shots, and they rarely string together stops.
That means even when the offense is humming - and it was humming Thursday - they can’t create the separation needed to cruise to wins. Every game becomes a track meet, and that’s a lot to ask of a team built around a 40-year-old LeBron James.
Doncic and LeBron: Still Carrying the Load
Still, when you’ve got two of the smartest, most skilled offensive players in the league, you’re always in the game. Doncic and James combined for 73 points and 24 assists against just three turnovers. That kind of efficiency is rare, and it’s what allowed the Lakers to control the tempo, even as their defense faltered.
LeBron finished with 28 points and 10 assists, continuing to defy time and logic. Doncic added five steals to his stat line, helping the Lakers win the turnover battle 13-7 - a key edge for a team that struggles to get stops in the halfcourt.
Marcus Smart stepped up in Reaves’ absence, knocking down five threes and offering some insight postgame into the team’s mindset. According to Smart, the Lakers’ offensive firepower might be working against them defensively - not out of laziness, but because they know they can score in bunches and erase deficits quickly.
“In this game, let’s just call it what it is - offense is what people want to see. That’s the name of the game,” Smart said.
It’s a revealing quote. When you’re built to score at will, there’s a natural tendency to lean on that - especially when you know you’ve got two offensive engines who can carry you through rough patches.
Trade Winds and Defensive Questions Ahead
But as the calendar inches toward the trade deadline, the Lakers’ defensive issues are becoming harder to ignore. There’s growing chatter around the league that the front office could look to flip expiring contracts - think Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, or Maxi Kleber - for a defensive upgrade. The current roster has about six weeks to prove that this offense-first formula can hold up when the stakes get higher.
Conventional wisdom says defense wins championships. The Lakers are testing that theory, betting that their offense - led by Doncic and LeBron - can be good enough to win in spite of the leaks on the other end.
For now, that offense is keeping them afloat. But if the Lakers want to be more than just entertaining, if they want to be dangerous come playoff time, they’ll need to find a way to get stops - or find someone who can help them do it.