As the Los Angeles Lakers look to defend their Emirates Cup title, they continued group play on Tuesday night, hosting the Utah Jazz.

The Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs in their first game and therefore wanted to remain undefeated in the group play. That’s exactly what they did, defeating the Jazz 124-118, earning their sixth straight win overall and improving their record to 10-4.

With Rui Hachimura missing a third straight game, Dalton Knecht got another start and started the scoring for the Lakers with a corner triple. He then made another from the same extra spot to give his team an early 10–4 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Lakers to take their first double-digit lead at 18-8 after Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Knecht came in. Overall, it was a dominant defensive first quarter for the Lakers, who took a 34-22 lead into the second quarter after Gabe Vincent beat the buzzer with a three-pointer.

Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson led a Jazz run to start the second and quickly cut their deficit to six. Knecht continued his strong half, though, with a pair of dunks, including one on an alley-oop from Reaves.

The Lakers regained control from there as James led a run to end the half and took a 57-44 lead into the locker room.

After a relatively quiet first half, LeBron got going in the third quarter with a three-point play and then a triple. He then let a top dunk put LA ahead 75-56, forcing a Jazz timeout.

Knecht had another crazy stretch to end the third quarter, making four straight triples and then fouling out on his fifth attempt. His next attempt also went in, as he tallied a career-high 33 points through three quarters as the Lakers comfortably led, 97–75. His play brought the entire Crypto.com Arena to its feet as all his teammates looked for him for triples.

Knecht made another 3-pointer for good measure to start the fourth and his ridiculous play seemed to put the game out of reach, though the Jazz were actually able to cut their deficit to 16, forcing Redick to call a timeout.

Given the Emirates NBA Cup points difference, hopes were for a blowout to ensure LA won all tiebreaks. However, the Jazz continued to fight and at one point brought their deficit to seven.

In the end, however, the Lakers were never in danger and were able to close out the win.

Knecht would finish with a career-high 37 points on 12-for-16 shooting and 9-for-12 from 3 to go along with five rebounds and a steal.

What’s next for the Lakers

The Lakers have two tough home games to end the week, hosting the Orland Magic on Thursday and then the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

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