Utah Jazz humble Los Angeles Lakers 96 – 87 with late surge – NBA Recap
The Utah Jazz put in a fine display on Saturday night to defeat the mighty Los Angeles Lakers 96 – 87. The Jazz were pretty competitive throughout the game and turned it on in the final quarter to overcome the Lakers, to the delight of the home support at
the EnergySolutions Arena.
Bereft of a true super star, the Jazz relied on team work to out gun the star studded Lakers side. 5 Utah players got into double figures, with Al Jefferson getting the team high 18 points and 13 rebounds for his double-double. Next up was Paul Millsap;
the forward’s double-double coming off 16 points and 13 boards.
Josh Howard had 12 points, so did Derrick Favors and rookie sensation Enes Kanter finished with 10.
The Lakers were again led by the indomitable Kobe Bryant. Although Kobe wasn’t able to will his side to a win, he still top scored in the game with 26 points. Pau Gasol put in what was perhaps the finest individual performance on the night with 24 points
and 16 rebounds while Andrew Bynum garnered 21 points and 12 boards.
The Lakers opened with a 5 – 2 spurt but the first quarter was very close after that. The Lakers did manage to end it ahead, but only with a slender 3 point lead. The second period followed pretty much the same pattern, and was perhaps even more closely
contested than the first. When the buzzer rang for half time, the game was finely poised, Los Angeles above at 49 – 47.
Both sides increased the intensity on defence after the break and the result was a pretty dull 3rd quarter. The combined score was just 38 and the attackers found no spaces to operate in and no gaps to exploit. The period ended with the score
tied at 67 – 67.
Kobe and the Lakers are expected to take over in the final period whenever the games are close, but this time Utah beat them to it. The jazz, buoyed by a vocal home crowd, started off the penultimate segment with a 12 – 1 burst that completely changed the
complexion of the game.
Los Angeles were suddenly staring at a double-digit deficit and try as they might, weren’t able to overcome it; losing out in the end by 9 points at 96 – 87.
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