On January 18, the Lakers played at home to the Jazz. The Lakers led the Jazz 52-46 in the first half. James had 10 points and five assists in the first half, and Westbrook had 10 points and three rebounds. Westbrook's frantic dunk in the second quarter made Gobert the most brilliant goal of the first half. Munch scored eight points and made 2-of-3 three-pointers.
The Lakers used Howard as the starting center in this game, with a lineup of Westbrook, Bradley, James, Ariza and Howard.
James assisted Bradley in the first quarter and then made a three-pointer himself, followed by Westbrook to throw a three-pointer. The Lakers started well. Westbrook scored another mid-range shot, and James also made a mid-range shot. However, the Jazz have a wide range of generals, Royce O'Neal and Ingles have shot three-pointers, and the Jazz have surpassed the Lakers. Fortunately, the Lakers bench performed well, with Tucker Jr., Munch, Stanley Johnson and Reeves scoring points, and the two teams formed a stalemate.
Jazz Gay scored a three-pointer with 39.9 seconds left in the first quarter, giving the Jazz a 25-24 lead over the Lakers in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Munch began to threaten. Tucker Jr. made two fouls and hit one of two, and Munch threw in a three-pointer. After Gobert and Conley scored five straight points, Munch shot another three-pointer. The Lakers' three-point firepower in this battle is very fierce. James assisted Tucker Jr. to score another three-pointer. After Clarkson missed a three-pointer, Munch grabbed an offensive rebound, and James organized the offense to throw himself into a three-pointer. The Lakers scored four consecutive three-pointers in the second quarter to hit a 13-5 offensive wave that forced the Jazz to call a timeout.
James had another excellent defense with 10 minutes and 58 seconds left in the second quarter, when Gobert was slapped off by James when he made a layup. The Lakers' defense improved significantly in the second quarter, and the role players fought more fiercely. James had previously apologized to fans on social media, and it seemed that he and his teammates were holding back and wanting to change.
James hit a shot with 2:26 left in the second quarter and finally scored in double figures. Westbrook also broke out, and he then dribbled to the basket, scored against Gobert's dunk, and also fouled Gobert and hit the penalty. Wei Shao's buckle made the whole audience boil, too burning.
However, Wei Shao, who was too excited, was punished for technical fouls because he pushed Gobert after a dunk and also sprayed garbage. In any case, Wei Shao's gobert was too fierce. This battle of 2 meters 16 Gobert was a bit depressed, was covered by Zhan Huang, and was locked by Wei Shao. The Lakers ended up leading 52-46 in the first half.