The Los Angeles Lakers will head into the All-Star break with a 30-26 record after beating the Utah Jazz 138-122 on Wednesday night. Though it’s not where the Lakers were hoping to be at this point after having a Western Conference Finals run the previous year, the team is going into the All-Star break, having won eight of their last eleven games with a new starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis, which combined for 96 points in a win against Detroit the previous night, and combined for a whopping 119 points against the Pelicans in a win on Friday. This full starting lineup was not there tonight though as LeBron James rested after having 25 points and eight assists while shooting 60% in the win against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
D’Angelo Drops Dimes And Rui Hachimura Continues Hot Streak

Rui Hachimura has surpassed his career high of 30 points that he had previously tied four different times, including in a 138–118 win over the Orlando Magic on January 21, 2023, Hachimura’s last game before being traded to the Lakers. Hachimura set his new career-high 36 points behind a hot shooting night, making over 65% of his shots from the floor while making a career-high six three-pointers on 75% shooting from deep. D’Angelo Russell had a career-high 17 assists on the night as he secured a double-double in the win, scoring 11 points, along with nine rebounds, while shooting 50% from the floor.
17 DLo dimes for the career-high 🫡 pic.twitter.com/BQLrIftyt8
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 15, 2024
Darvin Ham praised Rui Hachimura for bringing physicality to the Lakers starting rotation, saying, “We need Rui to be great in order for us to be great. When he’s playing like that, along with the other weapons we have, we’re pretty hard to beat.” This is Rui Hachimura’s 6th straight start; he has been making a huge difference so far. In the win over Detroit the previous night, Hachimura finished the game with 15 points on 70% shooting with five rebounds. Rui Hachimura agreed with Ham’s sentiment after the game saying, “I want to impact the game. My goal is to be the X-factor for the team, offensive or defensively. Be aggressive and use my size.” Rui Hachimura has averaged over 15 points per game, along with four rebounds and an assist, while shooting nearly 60% in his last six games as a starter this season leading the Lakers to four straight road wins.
.@RKHorry breaks down Rui Hachimura's career-high night against the Utah Jazz. pic.twitter.com/aYmic2aS73
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 15, 2024
Los Angeles Lakers Pull Away Late In the Second Half
LET'S GOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/URwojI5IvV
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 15, 2024
After Utah cut the score to only a three-point game with four minutes left in the third, Reaves took over, finding Davis for a jumper, then driving to the paint and kicking AD in the corner for a three. Reaves would hit a three of his own right after this, adding another assist and a bucket plus a foul to end the quarter on a 19-6 run before heading to the fourth. Austin Reaves finished the night with 22 points, hitting three of his five shots from deep, seven assists, and four rebounds, and making his presence felt on defense, securing three steals. In his second game as a Laker, Spencer Dinwiddie put up 10 points while dishing out four assists and hitting two threes while shooting over 65%. The Los Angeles native out of Taft High School in Woodland Hills finished with six points and seven assists in his debut with the Lakers the previous night against the Detroit Pistons.
Spencer Dinwiddie from WAY back 😱
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 15, 2024
Anthony Davis followed up his six-block defensive masterclass against the Detroit Pistons the previous night with another dominant performance, this time scoring a game-high 37 points and securing 15 rebounds. With tonight’s performance, Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura became the first Lakers teammates since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in the 2003 NBA season to score over 35 points in the same game. “It’s kind of one of those trap games right before All-Star and you’re on the road. You get in late and you can easily fold but we didn’t,” Davis said after the game. The Los Angeles Lakers will leave the All-Star break and head to San Francisco for a matchup with the Warriors, who are currently on a hot streak of their own, having won five straight games before losing to the Clippers on Wednesday night.
Anthony Davis (37 PTS) and Rui Hachimura (career-high 36 PTS) are the first Lakers duo to record 35+ points each in a game, since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal!
Lakers win their 3rd in a row 📈 pic.twitter.com/rVIxhnZ8XJ
— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2024
For More NBA News and Rumors
For more great content, follow me on Facebook, Bennett Ervin, and on X/Twitter @BennettErvin8. To view more great stories featuring the NBA or College Hoops, click this link.