Lakers silence Jazz in Luka Dončić’s debut for sixth straight win

Everything was wonderful for the Lakers on Monday as Luka Dončić debuted and the purple and gold routed the Jazz.

It was a perfect debut for Luka Dončić and the Lakers on Monday as they routed the Jazz with plenty of highlights along the way, winning 132-113.

Luka Dončić’s debut as a Laker ended with him scoring 14 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing four dimes in 24 minutes of action. LeBron James ended with 24 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and a steal. Austin Reaves had 22 points with nine rebounds and four assists.

Rui Hachimura pitched in with 21 points and six rebounds. Gabe Vincent scored 11 points to go with his four assists. Jordan Goodwin had another impressive showing off the bench with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jaxson Hayes had 12 points, all but one coming on dunks.

The game started with Jaxson receiving two alley-oops, one of them being Luka’s first assist as a Laker. Both teams exchanged baskets back and forth. Luka’s first make as a Laker was a 3-pointer.

Austin drained a 3-pointer as well. At the first timeout, LA was up six. All five Laker starters scored in the quarter.

LeBron drained a pair of fadeaways while Austin, Gabe and Luka all helped the Lakers pull ahead in a strong offensive quarter. Los Angeles was on a 13-4 scoring run and at the end of the first, they were up by 12.

Austin used the backboard for a floater early in the second. LeBron then danced with his defender straight to the basket for a layup and then did a one-legged fadeaway in honor of Dirk Nowitzki.

Jordan Goodwin made up for his missed three to open the quarter with two shots in a row. With 7:44 left in the half, Luka checked back into the game and assisted on a 3-pointer by Rui. Luka also converted one of his signature fadeaway shots.

Gabe drained another 3-pointer, adding to a growing lead for LA. Former Laker Jordan Clarkson drained a 3-pointer. With the half winding down, Luka through an outlet pass to LeBron for the layup.

At halftime, after a 3-pointer by Austin, the purple and gold had a lead of 25.

Jaxson started the second half on the receiving end of two more dunks. The Jazz went on a 9-0 scoring run, trying to breathe some life into themselves.

Two 3-pointers, one by LeBron and the other by Rui, stopped that run. LeBron then did a scoop layup with his left hand, leading to a timeout by Utah.

The Jazz went on another scoring run, with Clarkson draining another 3-pointer. Los Angeles’ interior defense struggled to stop Utah from getting easy lay-ups.

The rest of the quarter mostly belonged to the Lakers, but the Jazz picked up their play. It really didn’t matter, though.

LeBron assisted, again, on a lob to Jaxson for a dunk. LA maintained a cushion of 25 points at the end of the third.

LeBron started the final frame with a layup. After Utah picked up their play again, the Lakers struck back and added even more to their big lead. Austin converted a fastbreak layup, which led to a timeout by the Jazz.

After Los Angeles went on a 10-3 scoring run to all but seal the win, the bench was cleared with six minutes left to play.

Key Takeaways:

LeBron and Luka can, indeed, coexist on the floor and look magical doing it.

The lack of defense in the paint was on display for the Lakers. Whether they get someone in the buyout market or not, they’ll have to figure out how to defend better in the paint.

Gabe has become a reliable scorer for this team. He’s been continuously looking confident and comfortable. He deserves his flowers.

The Lakers’ next game will be Wednesday against the Utah Jazz at 6:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.