The Los Angeles Lakers snuck out of Salt Lake City on Sunday night with a win over the Utah Jazz, their second in a row over Utah and their fourth win in a row overall. They are now 12-4 and in second place in the Western Conference. But Sunday’s win saw head coach JJ Redick need to turn to unlikely sources for production.
Starting center Deandre Ayton was ruled out of the game for the entire second half — the extent of his injury is still unknown — leading Maxi Kleber to play 14 minutes, while backup guard Gabe Vincent was asked to play 20. Kleber entered the game for Jaxson Hayes at the 6:59 mark of the third quarter, when the Jazz were leading the Lakers 72-68.
Kleber played the rest of the third quarter, when the Lakers outscored the Jazz 16-9 over the final seven minutes to re-take the lead. Utah then scored only 13 more points between the start of the fourth and the 2:52 mark, totaling them to 22 points in a 16-minute stretch.
Redick, after the game, credited Kleber and Vincent for stepping up and said that the defense was the reason for L.A.’s win over Utah on Sunday, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Just an increased physicality. DA, I actually don’t know what’s going on with him. I think he had gotten hit on his leg in the first half and was kind of limping through it and just couldn’t go in the second half. And so, Maxi, coming in in that second half really changed the game for us with his physicality. He made some plays at the rim, had the big bucket late. He was great, Gabe was great as well. Those two guys playing an extended run, that’s really where our defense was solidified. They scored 17 points in the first four of five minutes of the third quarter, and then up until the last flurry, I think they had 22 points the rest of that half. It was stuck at 94 there. So I think our defense won us the game. And I told the guys this after the game. We’re literally one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA right now, I don’t think that’s who we are. We’ve got to make shots and we’ve got to shoot it with confidence. And to me, if we’re guarding with that level of physicality and passing the ball to each other, we had 23 assists and could’ve easily had 30-something if we made shots tonight. We’ve got to shoot the ball better. But it’s got to be a belief in each other and ourselves to knock down shots.”
The Lakers are extremely thin at the center position, meaning that injuries to any one of their big men — especially Ayton — can be devastating. But on Sunday, Kleber stepped up in a big way and played a massive role in getting the Lakers back on track in the win.
And while Redick believes that, eventually, the shooting numbers will come around for the Lakers, the defense has to be able to win them some game in the meantime.
Luka Doncic praises Maxi Kleber for performance in Lakers win over Jazz
Luka Doncic needed to play heavy minutes to help the Lakers eek out a win over the Jazz, but he had some of his unheralded teammates step up in the clutch.
Deandre Ayton was ruled out for the second half of the game, forcing JJ Redick to start Jaxson Hayes in his place. However, Redick also decided to dust off Kleber who has played sparingly since being cleared to return.
Kleber missed most of the second half of the 2024-25 season and playoffs due to a foot injury, so he has been trying hard to get his basketball rhythm back. Against the Jazz, Kleber looked the healthiest he’s been in almost a year as he was mobile and active on both sides of the basketball.
After the win over Utah, Doncic praised Kleber for his performance.
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