The clock ticked down and the ball, like it has for most of the last two decades of professional basketball, was in LeBron James’ hands.
Throughout the fourth, he was relentless in trying to find ways to score, the mismatch always in his favor, and largely, the ball just not going in. On one crucial possession in the fourth, the Lakers grabbed offensive rebound after offensive rebound only for James to miss three three-pointers on the same possession.
But this was a style of play that’s resulted in championships, in building a reputation for James as one of, if not the greatest, to ever play. It isn’t, though, the intended style for JJ Redick’s Lakers.
The Lakers were stuck in this throughout the fourth quarter Sunday, another missed three opening the door for the Jazz to steal a win. But Utah coach Will Hardy called a late timeout off a James missed three, the whistle coming a blink before Collin Sexton scored the game-winner.
After the timeout, the Jazz didn’t get a clean look as the Lakers escaped with a 105-104 win to start a four-game trip with a big chunk of their roster unavailable.
Anthony Davis scored 33, James added 27 on a night when he missed all nine threes and Rui Hachimura had 13 for the shorthanded Lakers.
The symptoms for those affected are real. For D’Angelo Russell and Cam Reddish, it was illnesses that made them unable to come to the arena Sunday. And for Austin Reaves, it was soreness from a scary fall Friday that made standing even a bit of a dicey situation.
But the NBA world is an unsympathetic one. And problems for Reaves, Russell and Reddish meant opportunities for Gabe Vincent, Max Christie and forgotten second-year guard Jalen Hood-Schifino.
Minus 40% of their regular rotation (including the injured Jaxson Hayes), the players around James and Davis had no choice other than to figure it out.
Vincent scored a season-high 10 points and forced a key late turnover when he aggressively defended John Collins in the post.
Reaves’ back injury, which the Lakers are calling a left pelvic contusion, ended a streak of appearing in129 straight regular season games, a stretch that’s also included 21 playoff games, two play-in games and one in-season tournament final.
The Lakers play again Monday in Minneapolis.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.