NBA Preseason Update–Utah Jazz defeat Los Angeles Lakers 99-94
The Los Angeles Lakers took on the Utah Jazz this past Sunday at their home Staples Centre Arena. The game started with around 12,000 fans that came in support of the Los Angeles Lakers.
1st Quarter
When the 1st quarter started, the Utah Jazz were strong out of the blocks as they bagged quite a few points before the Los Angeles Lakers got on the scoring sheet.
The first points came in favour of the Utah Jazz through Raja Bell, who scored through a jump shot. The Los Angeles Lakers saw their account open after 3 minutes of play with Pau Gasol scoring through a tip shot.
As the quarter progressed both teams settled into the game and it was Al Jefferson, who stood up for the Utah Jazz and bagged 6 points during the course of the period.
For the Los Angeles Lakers it was Ron Artest, who ended the quarter with 8 points. But the spectacular play in the period came from Pau Gasol when he finished the period with an extravagant slam dunk.
The quarter ended with the Utah Jazz leading the score 22-20.
2nd Quarter
During the course of the 2nd quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers saw their game deteriorate as they scored they couldn’t score in the early part of the quarter once again.
However, the Utah Jazz combined well and displayed some excellent passing and showed how to kill a move. They scored every now and then but the Lakers didn’t let them run as regular three pointers by Ron Artest and a few by Shannon Brown kept their hopes
alive.
When the quarter ended, the Utah Jazz was in the lead with the score on 49-44. Lamar Odom finished the quarter after bagging a brilliant three pointer. When the 2nd quarter ended, Ron Artest took his personal score to 17 points, which showed how
hard this player was trying to keep the Lakers in touch.
3rd Quarter
When the 3rd quarter started, the Los Angeles Lakers looked the stronger of the two teams. Kobe Bryant came into the game and scored the first points with a decent slam dunk.
Though the Utah Jazz was able to respond to these quick and fast attacks of the Lakers but the main resistance came from Al Jefferson, who bagged first points of the quarter for the Utah Jazz. During the quarter, Kobe grew in confidence and past through
the defence every now and then to score for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Undoubtedly with the talent and skill that Kobe Bryant has, he move on and looked to score points after points. When the quarter ended Kobe Bryant bagged a huge 19 points.
The Lakers scored 30 points during the final quarter. The Utah Jazz on the other hand scored 24 points in response and the score was 73-74 as the Los Angeles trailed by just one point. Pau Gasol also scored a few points in the quarter and took his personal
score to 15 points.
For the Utah Jazz it was Gordon Hayward, who combined with Al Jefferson, to score a few points and took his score to 15 points.
4th Quarter
The last quarter saw Kobe Bryant back on the bench that relieved the Utah Jazz bench and players. The Utah Jazz took advantage of this and scored 26 points during the period compared to 20 of the Los Angeles Lakers to win the match 99-94.
During the 4th quarter, the Utah Jazz’s points mainly came through Gordon Hayward, who scored 11 points and took his personal score to 26 points.
For the Lakers it was Pau Gasol, who was the stand out player in terms of points, bagging 28 points and was also the top scorer of the match but couldn’t prevent the Los Angeles Lakers from tasting defeat.
”A game like tonight just gives you a little confidence”, Hayward said. “It's a learning process, and I have a lot to learn from this game. I'm already thinking about what I could have done and what I should have done. It was fun out there tonight. I just
wanted to go out there and play hard, don't think about it and let my instincts take over”.
“I'm surprised they were chanting my name. I mean, come on. It's the preseason”, said Bryant, who played 9 scoreless minutes in the first half. “I'm sure they'd much rather see me in June than right now. But I still appreciate it”.
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