For the last week–and beyond that, really–the story around the Lakers has been that while they are a very good team that has shown it can compete in the Western Conference, there’s no way they’ll be able to maintain their current pace in the regular season and the playoffs if they can’t defend better.
Coach JJ Redick summoned both LeBron James and Luka Doncic to a meeting in which he asked his stars to pick up the intensity on D. The Lakers responded with a much better defensive effort on Sunday in a win over the Suns, but on Thursday, they were back on the floor against Utah, set to again test their new-found defensive resolve.
The result was a Jazz team that scored 78 points in the first half and shot 52% from the field and 49% from the 3-point line. The Lakers outshot them, though, and came away with a 143-135 win that was satisfying in that it was not a loss, but was otherwise a setback for the team’s shaky defensive commitment.
Lakers’ Marcus Smart: ‘It’s Tough Defensively Sometimes’
One player who is stuck in the middle of the back-and-forth on the Lakers defense is new guard Marcus Smart, who was brought to L.A. to give the Lakers much-needed point-of-attack help defensively. Smart spoke after the game about his attempts to get the Lakers and their stars on board with a better defensive mindset–but said it is not easy considering the offensive weapons the team has.
“We have a lot of star power offensively,” he said. “In this game, let’s just call it what it is—offense is what people want to see. That’s the name of the game, so it is tough defensively sometimes. That’s why when you’re in the starting lineup, you see, from the tip, I am trying to pick guys up full court.
“Just trying to—toughest team sets the rules, so I am trying to set the rules early for us, trying to get us going early. It doesn’t always work out that way but in a perfect world it will.”
GettyJusuf Nurkic #30 of the Utah Jazz shoots over Jaxson Hayes #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of a game at Delta Center on December 18, 2025 in Salt Lake City.
Lakers Have Strong Offense
That’s the hope for the Lakers–that the perfect world is still ahead, that they can continue their high-powered offense and pick things up defensively as the season goes on. They’re currently sixth in the NBA in offensive efficiency (118.8) and 22nd defensively (117.1).
“I gotta do my job and hope some guys follow,” Smart said. “But yeah, we do have a lot of star power on offense, so sometimes it is difficult because we can score the ball. Sometimes we see what we see (vs. Jazz). We wish it wasn’t that way. We got to continue to get better at it.”
Marcus Smart Shot 5-for-9 on 3s
Smart did make a significant contribution to the Lakers’ offensive efficiency on Thursday, for the second time in the three games since he has been back from a back injury. He was 5-for-9 from the 3-point line and scored 17 points.
The Jazz were giving him the space to shoot.
“They were playing me how every other team’s been playing me the last two games,” Smart said. “I have been shooting the ball well to start the year, so they figured, make him make shots. Tonight, I found a rhythm. Shout out to Luka and those guys, LeBron, finding me and just being ready to knock down shots.”
But the difference in the Utah game, Smart said, was getting his fellow starters to turn up their defensive urgency to start the second half.
“Urgency. We picked up our urgency,” he said. “We were in passing lanes. We were helping one another, those straight line drives they were getting, we were putting a body in front of them and making things as tough as possible.”
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