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Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura help LeBron-less Lakers hammer Jazz

Davis shines (37 points, 15 rebounds) and Hachimura makes six 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 36 points as they win for the sixth time in seven games, 138-122, while resting James in their final game before the All-Star break

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura celebrates after making a 3-point shot during the second half of their game against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City. Hachimura shot 6 for 8 from behind the arc on his way to a career-high 36 points in a 138-122 win. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
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SALT LAKE CITY — The situation the Lakers faced on Wednesday night was similar to one they were in nearly a month ago: playing without LeBron James on the road against the Utah Jazz.

But unlike that Jan. 13 loss, the Lakers fared significantly better this time, in large part because of a dominant third quarter led by Anthony Davis (37 points, 15 rebounds) and Rui Hachimura scoring a career-high 36 points. The result was a 138-122 win, their sixth in seven games, in their final contest before the All-Star break.

The Lakers have won three in a row and 11 of their past 16, putting them at four games over .500 (30-26) for the first time since Dec. 15 when they were 15-11.

“We called tonight’s win a ‘quality of life win’,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “Coming out of it knowing that we’re going to get some of our key pieces back that are going to fortify our lineup and make us deeper, stronger and then for them to see how we’re playing right now and the carry over from the things we were talking about during film, things we were showing in film, transferring it to our breakdowns on the practice floor, the shootaround floor and then ultimately having it carry over to the game. Everybody is in lock step in knowing what we need to do on both sides of the ball to win.”

The Lakers controlled most of the first half, leading by as many as 14 (50-36), but they allowed the Jazz to cut the deficit to 70-69 by halftime. Utah carried that momentum into the third quarter, scoring the period’s first five points and taking small leads early.

“It’s tough to come in here and get a win like that,” Austin Reaves said. “Obviously, without Bron, big part of what we do. But I thought we stayed the course really well. We didn’t press it at any time. We just played the game the right way. A very solid performance.”

Davis took advantage of the Jazz not doubling or blitzing him as much as they did in their previous matchup when he dished out a season-high 11 assists.

The All-Star big man scored 17 points in the third to help the Lakers open a 108-92 lead going into the fourth.

The Lakers closed the third on a 12-0 run for what was then a game-high 16-point advantage: a Reaves 3-pointer put the Lakers ahead 99-92; Davis had a putback dunk and later made a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 103-92; Taurean Prince (11 points) banked in a jumper to give the Lakers a 13-point lead before Reaves (22 points, seven rebounds, four rebounds, three assists) stole an inbound pass for an and-one layup to put the Lakers up by 16.

At one point, Davis scored 10 straight points as part of a 30-10 surge. The last time he played in Utah, he shot a career-worst 5 for 21. This time, he was nearly unstoppable on jumpers, spinning drives and putbacks, finishing 13 for 25 from the field and 10 for 13 from the free-throw line.

“My first priority is to score the basketball,” Davis said. “And the rest is second, third, fourth, fifth. It’s obviously easier when everybody has it going, Rui has it going. It’s hard for them to double(-team) when guys are making shots. But, when they put bigger guys on me and not try to double, then I try to take advantage of it and score.”

Hachimura, who entered Wednesday having scored 30 points four times in his five-year career, matched that with a turnaround jumper over Walker Kessler to give the Lakers a 121-107 advantage with 6:25 left.

Davis assisted Hachimura on a 3-pointer later in the fourth to put the Lakers ahead 124-107 to set a new career-high of 33 points before D’Angelo Russell assisted Hachimura for another 3-pointer that made it 134-113.

“He’s in a good space,” Ham said of Hachimura. “He’s having fun with his teammates. Having fun playing the game. And he heard us loud and clear with us encouraging him. We need Rui to be great for us to be great. He’s one of the main pieces for us and when he’s playing like that, along with all of the other weapons we have, we’re a pretty hard to team beat.”

The Lakers shot 57% with offensive spacing that allowed drives to the basket and wide-open 3-pointers off kick-out passes, extending a recent run of strong offensive showings. Russell’s assist to Hachimura was his 17th of the game, setting a career-high to go with 11 points and nine rebounds.

“The game’s going to present something,” Russell said. “Rui was aggressive, [Reaves] got us going early, just find that and feed that and it allows the game to open up for everybody. Last time I played here, they allowed me to score. This time they did a good job and I just passed the ball.”

The Lakers finished with 34 assists on 52 field goals.

Both teams pulled their primary rotation players with 2:27 remaining with the Lakers leading 136-113 after a Reaves layup.

James, who sat out the second game of a back-to-back set, has been nursing a left ankle injury. He is set to play in his 20th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday in Indianapolis.

Collin Sexton scored 18 points to pace six players in double figures for the Jazz (26-29), who have lost nine of 13 to fall out of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. Jordan Clarkson had 17 and Lauri Markkanen added 16.

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