The Lakers close the regular season with a 131-107 blowout victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.
Luke Kennard started things off with a midrange jumper for LA. Deandre Ayton dominated early with eight points, and LeBron James had four points. Oscar Tshiebwe and Ace Bailey combined for eight points for Utah.
At the 6:36 mark, Los Angeles was up by nine.
It was a balanced scoring affair for the Lakers as everyone in the starting lineup scored some buckets. Nobody from the bench had scored yet. LeBron
was the first person from either team in double figures with 10 points.
The purple and gold were up by 10 at the end of the first.
Brice Sensabaugh started the second period with a triple for the Jazz. Marcus Smart responded on the other end with one of his own, his first of the half in four attempts. LeBron poured on five more points, helping keep LA ahead.
At the 6:48 mark, Los Angeles was up by 10.
Ayton was now the second Laker in double figures with 10 points. Rui Hachimura started to light it up from behind the arc, knocking down three triples, which pushed his point total to 18. Fresh off his new contract, Nick Smith Jr. scored a quick six points off the bench.
At halftime, LA was up by 17.
The Lakers started the second half with LeBron and Kennard being done for the night, so Bronny James and Jake LaRavia got the second-half start. Ayton was now up to 18 points for the night, after notching eight points in the quarter.
Bronny was a perfect two for two from behind the arc.
Maxi Kleber was the only Laker who had yet to score; everyone else who had seen some minutes had scored. Bronny knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game, which put him in double figures with 11 points.
At the end of the third, Los Angeles was up by 21.
The final frame saw Kleber, Adou Thiero, and Dalton Knecht all scoring early. The rest of the quarter was the youngins having a blast running up the score. Every single Laker scored some points tonight.
Key Player Stats
LeBron finished with 18 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals. Hachimura ended with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Ayton notched 22 points with 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Smart pitched in with five points and 10 assists. Smith Jr. logged 12 points on 5-11 shooting from the field. LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt combined for eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Bronny scored 11 points with four assists. Knecht put up 17 points with two rebounds and three assists.
The Lakers will host the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, with Game One being Saturday at 5:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
