After a victory in Luka Dončić’s debut, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the All-Star break with disappointment, losing to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. This defeat ended LA’s six-game winning streak, which included a commanding blowout against the Jazz just two days earlier at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers lost 131-119, trailing by as much as 25 points during the game. It was a tough night for Los Angeles on both offense and defense, including for guard Austin Reaves, who scored 15 points and recorded 11 assists but struggled with his shooting, going just 1-for-10 from three-point range and 4-for-15 overall.

In his postgame interview, Reaves did not hold back in his assessment of the team’s performance.
“I just felt we played like [expletive] to be honest,” Reaves stated after the game. Despite his rough shooting performance, Reaves has been playing well lately, averaging 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists over his last five games.

The Lakers’ top scorer in the game was Rui Hachimura, who contributed 19 points. LeBron James added 18 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, shooting 46.2%. In his second game as a Laker, Dončić, still on a minutes restriction, finished with 16 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

As Reaves mentioned, the Lakers as a team did not perform well, losing to the 14th-seeded Utah Jazz, now with a record of 13-40. The Lakers will aim to recover from this loss when they face the Charlotte Hornets on February 19 after the break.