Luka Doncic’s debut was about as satisfying as LeBron James and the Lakers could have hoped on Monday night. It’s clear that Doncic and LeBron can play together and the Lakers appear energized with the excitement of the “biggest trade in NBA history.”
The game against the Lakers had a playoff atmosphere and the Utah Jazz youth looked like a deer in the headlights staring down LeBron James and Luka Doncic. At no point in the game was it competitive.
Personally, I was excited to see what the Jazz’s young players would do against the Lakers. Isaiah Collier has shown incredible passing recently. Could he have a big assists night? Walker Kessler has looked like a new player this season, so maybe he would dominate inside and ruin the party for the Lakers. Perhaps Keyonte George could have a scoring explosion with this chance to play on ESPN?
None of that happened. If anything, it was the opposite. Walker Kessler looked soft and had a team-worst -26, Collier was completely tentative and got his assists in garbage time, and George was inefficient and turned the ball over. And collectively, the defense was terrible.
With a chance to show how they might do in a playoff scenario, the Jazz were not even close to being ready.
