Lakers beat Jazz, back on track as substitute and youngsters lead Los Angeles to biggest win of the season

It’s not LeBron James who saved? Los Angeles Lakers in Monday. It doesn’t even Russell Westbrook and his mop. No, in their biggest win of the season against a team Utah Jazz The team had been near the top of the Western Conference for most of the season, a rally led by the underperforming Lakers.

Frank Vogel used four subs against Jazz: a rookie (Austin Reaves), signed 10 days (Stanley Johnson), a person who used to play the lottery with the minimum amount of money trying to turn his career around (Monk Malik) and a third-year professional mired in commercial rumors (Talen Horton-Tucker). All four of those players posted a plus point difference of 13 or better. They added up for 44 of the Lakers’ 101 points, and in the 15 minutes that all four were on the field with James, they edged the Jazz by 18. Perhaps not coincidentally, they are the four youngest players to land Monday for Los Angeles, and as Johnson has noted, energy is the difference in the game.

“I just wanted to bring some energy to the game,” Johnson speak. “I felt like I ended up getting off track and I ended up getting a ball that was loose and ended up having some movement and assists and stuff like that. Once the energy got into the game, you’ll be like, ‘I’m playing with LeBron and Russ, it’s easy to play with them.’ So it’s like, I just want to bring in some energy. If I bring in some energy, everything’s gonna Be Alright. “

That energy was felt on the glass, where Reaves and Johnson’s counterattacks in the fourth quarter gave the Lakers the lead and helped them close the game, but Johnson’s skill was just as important. Johnson won the Defensive Player of the Year award three times Rudy Gobert in the pick and roll four times over a three-minute period on Monday of the fourth quarter, and on all four occasions he scored. Those points were the backbone of the 4th round 17-4 run that turned the game.

“I think if you watch basketball over the last few years, some teams have had success attacking him with smaller guys,” Johnson said. explain. James, one of the most successful pick-and-roll ball handlers in NBA history has largely acted as a sifter through that critical chain. Those play calls were James’ idea. “LeBron is a smart player,” Johnson joke.

He certainly is, and historically, he’s also been a pretty hands-on guy.

“I know the types of players I like to play with,” James speak after the win and on Monday, all four reserve teams made convincing cases for bigger roles. All four are playing with huge stakes.

Johnson has only 10 days left on his contract and needs to continue to contribute if he plans to re-sign for the rest of the season. Horton-Tucker and Monk are both fighting for a few minutes in a route that will only get more crowded when Kendrick Nunn profit. Horton-Tucker, as the fourth highest-paid player on the team, is a strong candidate to be traded if he is squeezed out. If Monk does, he will lose meaningful value as a free agent this season. Reaves is still just trying to prove he belongs in the NBA.

And in the team’s biggest game of the season, all four came in and helped the Lakers win. Being a Laker comes with considerable pressure, and right now, it’s the youngest and least experienced Lakers living up to it.