National Basketball Association

Lakers vs Utah Jazz Recap: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Lakers failed to win their second game of the season, falling to the Utah Jazz on Friday night

The combination of dreadful shooting nights from both D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson, along with an inability to keep the Jazz off the offensive glass, lead to the Lakers’ first loss of the season tonight in Utah.

Despite a combined 5-for-25 from the field from young back court, Los Angeles was able to stay in the game, thanks in large part to the play of their bench.

Lou Williams led the squad with 17 points, and Tarik Black’s eight points and seven rebounds in only 10 minutes of action helped the squad battle back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter. The bench mob closed the final five minutes of the third-quarter on a 15-4 run, knotting the game up at 65-all heading into the final quarter.

The strong play continued when Luke Walton reinserted D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle to start the fourth, with the Lakers taking a four-point lead early in the quarter.

D’Angelo Russell’s behind-the-back dish for the slam👌 #SCtop10 https://t.co/gpG0d12Ne7

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 29, 2016

But the Jazz were able to regain control down the stretch and prevail 96-89. An in-and-out 3-point attempt from Russell, with 40 seconds left and the Lakers trailing by four, summed up his game in a nutshell.

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The frustration was visible on D-Lo’s face all night, as he was hounded by George Hill into missing his first seven shots from the field.

But hey, at least the Purple and Gold’s prized second-overall pick wasn’t injured. Wait, damn…

Brandon Ingram left the game late in the first-quarter after suffering a non-contact knee injury on defense. He eventually came back out to the bench, but the Lakers’ medical staff re-evaluated Ingram at halftime and opted to hold him out for the rest of the game.

His re-evaluation will be, uh, re-evaluated tomorrow, as Mike Trudell reported on air the 19-year-old felt a “twinge” in his knee.

While the Lakers let a winnable game slip away, they should be encouraged they were able to nearly pull this one out while playing an ugly game that favored the defensive-minded Jazz.

Both teams shot the ball poorly, with LA under 40 percent from the field and the Jazz barely clearing the same threshold.

The difference maker for Utah was their ability to capitalize on the offensive glass. Although they only out-rebounded LA by four, 47-43, the Jazz scored 16 points off of second-shot opportunities. Cut that in half, or only have one of the two young guards have off shooting nights, and the Lakers are sitting at 2-0.

Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors were the primary tormenters, combining for 11 offensive boards — or the same as the entire Lakers team.

Still, there’s plenty to be bullish about, even with the loss. The Lakers will look to get back above .500 when they head to OKC to take on human supernova Russell Westbrook and the Thunder on Sunday.

—The Good—

– The Lakers bench, spearheaded by Williams and Black, combined for 40 points and stemmed the tide when Mozgov took a seat with his fifth foul in the third-quarter.

– Hustle. This is a subject usually reserved for antiquated sports talk radio hosts, but the team is clearly playing harder so far under Walton than Byron “folded-arms” Scott.

—The Bad —

– D’Angelo getting severely outplayed by the always underrated Hill. Nothing to worry about long term, it was simply a bad night, as his 2-5 from the line hinted at.

— The Ugly —

– Ingram going out with an injury, clearly. Grab your Rosary beads tonight and pray the rook turns out fine.

–Random Notes–

– The Nick Young for Defensive Player of the Year candidacy remains alive and well. Noodles (I stick with his USC nickname) not only helped keep Rodney Hood under wraps (5-14 FG), but blocked a shot for the second straight game. That’s right, Nick “Olajuwon” Young is averaging a block per game.

Maybe I’m just slowly turning into a curmudgeon at 26, but this trend of opponents wearing their home jerseys on the road is just odd.

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