{"id":490057,"date":"2026-01-03T19:05:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T19:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/490057\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T19:05:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T19:05:23","slug":"lakers-takeaways-jake-laravia-sets-the-tone-in-starting-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/490057\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers takeaways: Jake LaRavia sets the tone in starting lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is what the Lakers<\/a> imagined when they nearly broke the NBA with the trade that brought Luka Doncic to L.A<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doncic and LeBron James<\/a> scored 30 points apiece during the same game for just the third time as teammates Friday to help the Lakers hold off the Memphis Grizzlies 128-121<\/a> at Crypto.com Arena. Doncic led the way with 34 points, using 17-of-20 shooting from the free-throw line to maintain his NBA-leading scoring average, while James had 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds and six assists.<\/p>\n

The Lakers (21-11) needed 41-year-old James to be at his best. They squandered 13- and 15-point leads in the first and second quarters, respectively, but pieced together a timely 12-2 run in the fourth to improve their record in clutch games to 11-0.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like nearly every time we needed a bucket, he just kind of willed [it],\u201d coach JJ Redick<\/a> said of James, \u201cwhether it was driving the basketball, getting to the paint, getting to two feet, and he was just phenomenal tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are three takeaways from the win:<\/p>\n

Jake LaRavia stars in his role \"Laker <\/p>\n

Laker Jake LaRavia celebrates making a three-pointer against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n

(Katelyn Mulcahy \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

James and Doncic led the way, but another player set the strongest tone for the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it started with Jake,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n

Jake LaRavia<\/a> scored 21 points, hitting three of his six three-point attempts, with nine rebounds, two steals and a block. In the starting lineup for the injured Rui Hachimura (calf), LaRavia delivered the necessary spark of energy on defense while also getting his shot going early to add a scoring punch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I just talk about roles and the amount of hats that I can wear with this team, some nights, this is what happens,\u201d LaRavia said. \u201cOther nights I\u2019m that defender, connector, crasher, like all that kind of stuff. So just continuing to play confidently throughout but also understanding what my role is going to be each game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers coveted the 6-foot-7, 24-year-old forward during the offseason for his versatility on defense and his three-point shooting on offense. He hit his first three-pointer on Friday. Then he nailed another midrange jumper 28 seconds later. He had 11 points in the first quarter and 18 in the first half.<\/p>\n

LaRavia knew almost instantly it could finally be his night again.<\/p>\n

LaRavia hadn\u2019t scored 20 points in a game since Nov. 2 as his playing time has fluctuated with the Lakers\u2019 ever-changing injury report. He is also shooting a career-low 30.9% from three after shooting 42.3% from long distance last season.<\/p>\n

But LaRavia asked his teammates to maintain their confidence in him as he worked with assistant coach Beau Levesque to fine-tune his shot again.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe says, \u2018Control the input and the output is going to show for itself,\u2019\u201d LaRavia said of the coach. \u201cSo that\u2019s kind of what I\u2019m doing right now. I\u2019m just working on my shot, starting with the basics again, and just kind of going from there. And, you know, hopefully I can find my rhythm again. And tonight was just the start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friday was LaRavia\u2019s first game with three three-pointers since Oct. 29 when he made five of six against the Timberwolves, prompting the viral moment of fans shouting \u201cWho is No. 12?\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

Jaxson Hayes gets the closing nod \"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes yells as he dunks in front of Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. and center Jock Landale during the fourth quarter at Crypto.com Arena on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Last year, Jaxson Hayes<\/a> watched the Lakers\u2019 season end from the bench after he fell out of the playoff rotation in the first round against Minnesota. The 7-foot center started the first four playoff games, but never played more than 10 minutes in each as his role dwindled to not playing at all in the decisive Game 5<\/a>. <\/p>\n

After the benching, Hayes said he had something to prove this season.<\/p>\n

He made a loud statement Tuesday, earning the closing minutes over starter Deandre Ayton<\/a>. Hayes played 11 minutes and nine seconds of the tight fourth quarter and finished with13 points on five-of-six shooting. <\/p>\n

Ayton had four points and six rebounds, but the Lakers were outscored by one during his 24 minutes and 49 seconds compared with a plus-eight scoring margin during Hayes\u2019 23 minutes and 11 seconds. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was playing better,\u201d Redick said of the decision to play Hayes at the end of the game.<\/p>\n

Hayes has 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting in the last two games since returning from an ankle injury. Defensively, Hayes added two steals, two rebounds and a block Friday. Hayes is shooting a career-best 78%, but he does not qualify for the league\u2019s official leaderboard with just 64 makes on 82 attempts.<\/p>\n

Doncic praised Hayes for his improvement in the pick-and-roll, noting how the center is finding \u201cthe right pocket\u201d while Doncic is handling the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis ability to control the paint for us has been huge,\u201d said guard Marcus Smart<\/a>, who flirted with a triple-double with 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. \u201c\u2026 Just his ability to go get the ball at the highest point when we throw it and then defensively to alter shots, whether he\u2019s blocking them or just changing shots for us allows our defense to pick it up from our guards even more. To have that urgency that he brings, that\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dalton Knecht to get more playing time \"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers forward Dalton Knecht extends to shoot the ball while being guarded by Detroit Pistons forward Ronald Holland II on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n

(Caroline Brehman \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Diminished defense headlined the Lakers\u2019 December struggles, but the offense was also out of sync during the Lakers\u2019 5-7 month. They were ranked 18th in offensive rating during December and were shooting 33.9% from three-point range, which ranked 25th in the league.<\/p>\n

With several of the team\u2019s top shooters currently injured, Redick is opening the door for second-year forward Dalton Knecht<\/a> to work back into the rotation. Knecht will get \u201cconsistent\u201d playing time over the next few weeks, Redick said, but he won\u2019t be solely judged on his shooting percentage while he tries to stick in the lineup. <\/p>\n

\u201cPlay hard,\u201d Redick said before the game of what Knecht needs to do to stay in the lineup. \u201cThat\u2019s been the biggest playing emphasis for him all season. He\u2019s not going to be judged on whether he makes or misses shots. That helps. When you go through a stretch and you feel like your team isn\u2019t playing hard, you got to play the guys that are consistently playing hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knecht was scoreless in 10 minutes and 47 seconds against the Grizzlies, missing both of his three-point attempts and notching one turnover. <\/p>\n

Knecht is shooting 37.3% from three in his short NBA career, but has struggled to stick in the lineup because of defensive lapses. He grabbed Maxi Kleber\u2019s minutes at the end of the Lakers\u2019 rotation after not playing in the first half of a game since Dec. 23 against Phoenix, a blowout loss.<\/p>\n

The Lakers are digging into their bench while injuries pile up. Austin Reaves remains out<\/a> at least three more weeks because of a calf strain. Forward Adou Thiero was diagnosed with a right MCL sprain on New Year\u2019s Eve and will be re-evaluated in four weeks.<\/p>\n

Guard Gabe Vincent is closing in on a return from a back injury that\u2019s cost him seven games. The Lakers hope he can be available for at least one of their upcoming road games, Redick said, against New Orleans on Tuesday or in San Antonio on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is what the Lakers imagined when they nearly broke the NBA with the trade that brought Luka…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":490058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,221042,25926,262,6271,2961,8604,221043,42296,224,5337,3365,11148,449,24566,134317,75570,101,554],"class_list":{"0":"post-490057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-clutch-game","11":"tag-dalton-knecht","12":"tag-defense","13":"tag-jaxson-hayes","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-lakers","16":"tag-laravia","17":"tag-lineup","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-losangeles","20":"tag-luka-doncic","21":"tag-minute","22":"tag-point","23":"tag-rebound","24":"tag-redick","25":"tag-second-quarter","26":"tag-shooting","27":"tag-shot"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115832732144167484","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}