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LeBron James and the LA Lakers suffered a 25-point thrashing at the hands of the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The 114-89 loss was the Lakers' fourth straight defeat as they are reeling from the loss of two starters, Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder.
The Utah Jazz proved their superiority when they blew the game wide open in the second quarter and hardly received any resistance from the LA Lakers.
Before the game started, the Lakers were being set up for failure on Twitter by infamous LeBron hater, Skip Bayless.
The Utah Jazz took the driver's seat against the LA Lakers in the first half
After losing their third game in a row, the LA Lakers made a change to their usual starting lineup, with Wesley Matthews and Kyle Kuzma back as reserves.
The Lakers and the Jazz were nearly even after the first quarter but the latter quickly took charge and had a 10-point lead with less than three minutes gone in the second quarter.
The Utah Jazz would extend it to 16 with 5:24 left in the quarter as Mike Conley, snubbed from an All-Star appearance in the eyes of some, took over.
Here's one highlight from an otherwise uninspired first half by the LA Lakers. LeBron James can still get to the rim with the best of them.
The Utah Jazz took the heart of the LA Lakers early in the third quarter
In the second half, the Utah Jazz didn't look back and put the LA Lakers in their rearview mirror immediately. And that's saying it nicely. The Jazz outworked and outhustled the Lakers, getting contributions from every player.
Threes rained at Vivint Arena though most came in the first half. Donovan Mitchell struggled with his shot, but it didn't matter.
The fact that Anthony Davis is out doesn't explain why the LA Lakers are performing so poorly, but it does tell us how important he is to this team.
As many have surmised from the Lakers' poor showing in the past four games, this has an immense impact on LeBron James' bid to win the MVP this season.
Bayless once again had another tweet about the game to pour salt over LeBron's wound.
As for the victors, the Utah Jazz once again proved that they're the best team in the NBA right now.
A Utah Jazz fan stated that LeBron James doesn't win in Utah. He may be right as the Jazz are celebrating right now. Even non-Jazz fans are enjoying this team!
Will the LA Lakers continue to struggle without Anthony Davis? Dennis Schroder is expected to be back in their next game, and they will have less of an excuse if they lose again.
The Utah Jazz, meanwhile, are running roughshod over the entire NBA with a league-best 26-6 record and have shown no signs of slowing down.
