After a rough four-game road trip, the Los Angeles Lakers return to Staples Center tonight to take on the Utah Jazz. Check out our live recap:
1st Quarter
With starting point guard D’Angelo Russell and back-up Jose Calderon out due to injuries, head coach Luke Walton decided to place Brandon Ingram at starting point guard. Joining him were Metta World Peace, in his first start of the season, Luol Deng, Julius Randle, and Timofey Mozgov. The Jazz were also without their starting point guard, George Hill. With that being said, the Jazz starting lineup consisted of Dante Exum, Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, Boris Diaw, and Rudy Gobert.
The Lakers started out very out of sync as they could not get any offensive fluidity. Utah, on the other hand, started out aggressive on both ends of the floor, earning them a quick 8-1 lead. A couple of offensive rebounds by the Jazz led to easy baskets for them.
Deng was able to get an and-one after Randle poked away a pass intended for Gobert on the defensive end. After a Lakers timeout, Walton inserted Lou Williams in hopes of igniting the offense and he did so quickly by drilling a three-pointer to bring the Lakers within five points midway through the quarter. A steal by Randle at mid-court led to an easy slam dunk that forced the Jazz into calling a timeout.
Mozgov continued his strong quarter by connecting on a midrange jumper to give the Lakers their first lead of the game, 18-17. Trey Lyles responded for the Jazz with a basket of his on the ensuing possession.
Nice ball movement by the Jazz led to a corner three from Shelvin Mack to tie the game at 22. After Williams drove and missed a lay-up, Tarik Black quickly swarmed in and slammed dunked the ball back home.
The Lakers and Jazz were tied at 26 a piece at the end of the first quarter.
2nd Quarter
Both teams started the quarter by trading baskets. Deng quickly registered two steals and a nice coast-to-coast lay-up to give the Lakers the lead. Miscommunication on defense, though, led to another three-pointer for Mack, his second of the game.
Tarik Black’s strong play on both ends of the floor continued as he registered a steal and played solid defense that led to a couple of easy baskets for the Lakers. Gobert’s size continued to cause issues for the Lakers bigs, as he was able to grab offensive rebounds, leading to easy Jazz points.
Following a timeout, the Jazz executed well on offense that led to an Exum corner three-pointer, his second of the game, and a Diaw basket. Jordan Clarkson delivered a sequence of nice plays; he drilled a three-pointer to tie the game at 44 and used a nice dribble fake that easily led to a slam-dunk.
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Three consecutive three-pointers, two by Diaw and one by Hood, gave Utah a 55-51 lead with fewer than two minutes to play.
Aiming for a two-for-one, Clarkson quickly sped down the court for an easy lay-up and after a Jazz missed shot, Randle was unable to get a clean shot off as Gobert altered his shot at the rim before the
The Lakers trailed at halftime, 57-53. Williams led the Lakers with 16 points while Diaw led the Jazz with 12 points.
3rd Quarter
The Jazz began the quarter by knocking down their first three baskets to give them an 11-point lead that forced a Lakers timeout. The break also gave the Lakers training staff some time to look at Mozgov, as he appeared to hold his right shoulder.
Ingram continued to struggle as he missed a turnaround jumper over Exum, making him 0-for-3 on the night. On the next two ensuing Jazz possessions, Hayward knocked down two three-pointers giving him 18 points.
Before the Lakers scored their points of the quarter, a Black free throw, the Jazz scored 14 points to begin the quarter.
After a timeout, Walton inserted Clarkson and Williams hoping to spark the offense. Williams quickly connected on a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 15 points. An offensive rebound by Gobert and put-back slam after a missed three-point attempt by Joe Johnson ended a quick momentum shift for the Lakers.
Utah continued to have good ball movement leading to open and easy baskets for them, including a Lyles three-pointer to give them 16-point lead. Before the quarter ended, Williams made his way into the lane to score a lay-up.
The Lakers trailed at the end of the third quarter, 89-74.
4th Quarter
The Lakers began the quarter much better, quickly scoring two baskets to cut the lead to 11 points. In need of a basket to stop the Lakers momentum, Joe Ingles scored an and-one.
After a good defensive possession, Thomas Robinson found a wide-open Williams for a corner three-pointer to cut the lead to single digits, which forced a Jazz timeout.
After the timeout and one made Jazz free throw, a beautiful pass from Williams to Robinson cut the lead to six with seven minutes left to play. An Ingles three-pointer to stop a quick Lakers run.
Marcelo Huertas got in on the offensive end by connecting on a floater, which was flowed by a strong put-back by Randle. On the following possession, the Lakers played good defense, but Rodney Hood bailed the Jazz out with a three-pointer to give them a 103-97 lead with less than three minutes to play. Hood hit another jumper on the next Jazz possession to basically put the game away.
In what felt like a comeback victory the Lakers were unable to knock off the visiting Jazz, losing 107-101.
Williams led the Lakers with 36 points, on 13-for-26 shooting. Gobert was a force to be reckoned with down low for the Jazz, finishing with 14 points, 17 rebounds, and five blocks.
