NBA - Preview: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz
The Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz will team up against each other tonight to prove who the better team to steal this game is.
The game will take place at the Energy Solutions Arena at 9:00 pm.
Injuries
Lakers Taylor Ratliff is out with a knee injury and Utah’s Mehmet Okur has a torn Achilles’ tendon so they both will not be there to support their teams.
Team Stats
The Utah Jazz did not succeed in winning any of the three home games against the teams that had made playoffs in the last season. They will look forward anxiously to knock the team out that has driven them out of the postseason
for three straight years.
The Utah Jazz will face the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time on Friday night since they were swept off their feet in last season’s playoffs.
Teams Comparison
Over the past four seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers (13-2) have been beating the Utah Jazz. The Lakers won 10 of 14 regular season games while doing so and gone 12-3 over the last three in the postseason.
The Utah Jazz (11-5) could not resist the Lakers as they had arrived in the conference semi-finals and were swept off in the last season for the very first time in 21 years.
Utah 5-3 at home has fallen to Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunders and the San Antonio Spurs. Jazz replaced its last season’s best scorer Carlos Boozer with Al Jefferson as power forward.
"It will be an exciting game for our team and the fans," Jefferson said after they won 105-87 over New Orleans this Wednesday. "We're a lot bigger this year and we got a great confidence boost tonight."
Bryant - Gasol charisma
When it comes to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, Jazz has no answers to that sweep. Kobe Bryant made an average 32.0 points and 5.8 assists and Gasol had 23.5 points on a 60.7 percent shooting as he grabbed 14.5 rebounds.
Shine, Shannon, Shine
Shannon Brown shines the box score for the Lakers; he scored 21 points on Tuesday and he has an average of 15.0 in his last seven games.
The Lakers have the league-best average of 111.5 points even though they put up their lowest total while they shot their season low 39.5 percent against the Bulls.
"The more games we have like this, the more we understand how to play off each other defensively," Bryant said.
Lakers can charm a snake and strangle Williams
Deron Williams was also reduced to a 38.7 percent shooting last season as the Lakers tightened their grasp on him. However, he managed to average a team high 22.0 points. Williams scored 26 points, 11 assists and grabbed season
high five steals on Wednesday.
Practice makes man perfect
The Lakers have been practicing well and this showed in their fifth straight victory against Chicago Bulls 98-91 on Tuesday. Derrick Rose scored 30 points for the Bulls and grabbed eight assists but he missed all the four shots
in the fourth quarter as the Lakers’ keen eye followed him.
"Sometimes we play that way with Deron Williams as well," the Lakers forward Lamar Odom later said. "And he's their first option and he has to go first."
It can be said that the NBA’s least productive benches are with Jazz. They have an average of 23.9 points. The reserves are better who helped get a 13-4 run in the start of the second quarter for a 44-34 lead on Wednesday.
"They played big," Jefferson, who scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, said. "They came in and boosted us up big-time. It's amazing how well they're playing."
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