Los Angeles Lakers go 1-4 as they lose to Utah Jazz 86-95 – NBA Recap
The Los Angeles Lakers continue to struggle with their superstar roster this season as they lost their fourth game of the season against the Utah Jazz 95-86 on Wednesday night. The Lakers are now 1-4 for the season. Utah took the command of the game early and seemed like the better team on the night, picking up a relatively comfortable victory in the end. Al Jefferson finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Mo Williams scored 16 points and 7 assists on the night for Utah. Kobe Bryant finished with 29 points and 5 rebounds, going 7 of 17 from the field and 15 of 17 from the foul line.
Utah started the game hot, feeding off the energy of the home crowd to take an early 9-2 lead as the Lakers struggled to get their offence in motion. A put back dunk by Al Jefferson put the Jazz up 13-6, but a slam dunk by Dwight Howard had the Lakers down 5. Bryant then made two free throws and Pau Gasol followed with a slam dunk to cut the Jazz lead down to 1, but the Lakers were unable to score in the final three minutes of the period allowing Utah to compile a 6-0 run and finish the period leading 25-17.
Utah continued their momentum into the second period and started the period with a 10-4 run capped off by a three pointer by Randy Foye to take a 35-21 lead. The Lakers slowly climbed back into the game and two free throws by Kobe Bryant had them down 39-47. The Jazz led 51-41 at halftime.
Both team struggled to score in the opening minutes of the third period, but Utah still scored the first four points and extended their lead to 55-41 as the Lakers remained scoreless for the first three and a half minutes. A 9-0 run by the Lakers after Marvin Williams scored a layup cut the Lakers deficit down to 56-60, but Utah again closed the period on a 5-1 run to lead 65-57 as both teams entered the final quarter.
A three point play by Darius Morris to open the fourth quarter for the Lakers made it a five point game, but back to back to back three pointers by Randy Foye put the Jazz up 79-68 and turned around the game. The Lakers were unable to make a run at the lead after that and Utah scored their free throws in the final minutes to pick up a 95-86 victory.
Foye finished with 17 points, going 5 of 9 from three point range, and Marvin Williams had 11 points and 4 rebounds for the night. Dwight Howard finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Metta World Peace had 15 points and 7 rebounds. The Lakers shot poorly from the field, going 33.8 percent and 17.4 percent from the distance. They were 32 of 46 from the foul line as well. Utah shot 44.6 percent from the field and were 16 of 18 from the foul line. Even though they were outrebounded 48-37, the Jazz had 21 assists compared to 11 for the Lakers and committed 12 turnovers where as the Lakers committed 18.
Tags: