For a change, the start after halftime wasn’t the problem.
For a change, the Lakers came into the third quarter Thursday night with some energy, turning a three-point deficit into a four-point lead.
Then the rerun began. A day after a lackluster third-quarter start at Portland doomed the Lakers, the third quarter bit them again, just a little bit later. The Utah Jazz mounted a 16-0 run as the Lakers failed to score for six of the third quarter’s final seven minutes, and rode that lead to a 96-88 win.
It was the third loss in a row for the Lakers (16-34) and the eighth in nine games.
“Statistically we did a lot of things that could have won the game for us,” Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. “That’s a really good team over there. They execute. They’ve been together two, three, four years now. They went through the hard times we’re going through now and you can see they don’t get rattled.”
It was only the fourth time since the start of December the Lakers held their opponent to fewer than 100 points. This is the first time the Jazz (30-18) have swept the Lakers in a season series.
The Lakers were on the second night of a back to back, playing without starters D’Angelo Russell (right MCL and calf) and Julius Randle (illness). Jose Calderon started for Russell while Tarik Black started for Randle.
All-Star Gordon Hayward had 24 points to lead all scorers, while Jazz center Rudy Gobert had nine points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots. Four Lakers scored in double figures, but for the second time in as many games, the only starter to do so was Nick Young. Rookie Brandon Ingram and Calderon went scoreless.
When the season began, Lakers Coach Luke Walton had a conversation with rookie Ivica Zubac to set expectations.
Walton told the 19-year-old, the 32nd pick in the draft, that he shouldn’t expect much playing time; that he should use his rookie season to improve himself, work in the Development…
When the season began, Lakers Coach Luke Walton had a conversation with rookie Ivica Zubac to set expectations.
Walton told the 19-year-old, the 32nd pick in the draft, that he shouldn’t expect much playing time; that he should use his rookie season to improve himself, work in the Development…
Despite committing eight turnovers in the first half to Utah’s four, the Lakers trailed only 44-41 at the break.
To start the third quarter, Walton sent back his starting lineup of Calderon, Young, Timofey Mozgov , Luol Deng and Black, hoping for a better result than the night before.
He got one.
The Lakers took a 56-52 lead, with the help of a very active Mozgov, who had three rebounds, a blocked shot, seven points and a steal in the first five minutes of the half. His dunk with 6:57 left in the third quarter proved a turning point.
But it wasn’t a good one for the Lakers.
For the next 6:09 of playing time, the Lakers couldn’t score. That span featured three blocks by Gobert, four Lakers turnovers and an emphatic alley-oop dunk from Utah’s Joe Ingles to Hayward.
“We wasn’t thinking straight when we went to the hole,” said Young, who fell victim to Gobert’s fourth block of the night. “He’s a big-time shot blocker, long player. … They got a little momentum off it. Got the crowd into it. That’s what happens at home.”
Still, Walton saw progress. He liked that the team didn’t fold with a double-digit deficit. He liked seeing the fight that’s been missing at points this season. Although the result wasn’t what they wanted, the Lakers took heart in that they didn’t cave.
“Even when we got down by 10 we still felt like we were in the game,” Jordan Clarkson said. “Last year we used to get down by 10, 20 we thought we were going to get our [butt] whooped. But now we know we’re back in here competing. We’re still competing, most times we’re in games to win. We just gotta figure out how to finish games.”
