Utah Jazz Snap Skid With Win Over LA Lakers

Gordon Hayward and the Utah Jazz narrowly survived a back-and-forth bout with Julius Randle and the Los Angeles Lakers to snap their losing streak.

After three straight nights off, the Utah Jazz returned from their holiday break on Tuesday to take on the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Although the team looked a little bit healthier with Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood returning to the starting lineup, it was a couple of potential All-Stars who ultimately led the Jazz to a 102-100 win.

Gordon Hayward put together one of his most complete efforts of the season, scoring 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting, hitting three three-pointers and grabbing nine rebounds. Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert scored 12 points and added 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Despite the big performances, the win was anything but easy to come by for Utah.

The opening quarter was earmarked by runs from both squads. Hayward got the Jazz going by scoring eight quick points, hitting two threes in the process. The Lakers used a run of their own to eventually capture the advantage, but 10 unanswered points from the Jazz swung the pendulum back. A late-quarter Joe Johnson hoop gave them a 28-25 lead after one.

Lakers forward Luol Deng had a big quarter with nine points, but Hayward’s 12 seemingly had the Jazz grooving in La La Land. Then the second quarter happened.

Sloppy is probably the best way to describe it; the Jazz were playing loose with the ball and committing bad turnovers. In the meantime, the Lakers used a 12-3 run to accrue a five-point advantage. At that point, Jazz coach Quin Snyder went back to Hayward who quickly scored and then assisted a Gobert dunk to kill LA’s momentum.

It proved to be a brief respite for the Jazz. After the teams traded buckets for several minutes, the Lake Show ended on 8-1 run to take four-point lead into halftime. The Lakers had outscored the Jazz 27-20 in the period and 12 Utah turnovers had led to 18 points for the home team in the first half.

If the game was sloppy in the second, the third quarter was downright heinous at times. Neither team could buy a bucket to start the second half. The first points didn’t come until a Shelvin Mack jumper at the 9:22 mark. Even then, neither squad was executing. During the three-plus minute stretch to begin the half, they combined for 10 turnovers.

The Jazz finally started to come alive as the period progressed. A Joe Ingles triple capped off a 10-2 run that helped his team recapture a 60-58 lead midway through. However, just as Hayward and the Jazz were starting to roll, Lou Williams came alive, matching the Jazz star with nine third quarter points.

Thanks to Williams turning the tide, the Lakers led 74-72 after three.

Joe Johnson was the hot hand to begin the final carom. He scored eight points through the first half of the fourth quarter to help the Jazz get some momentum. However, a long-range, miracle three by Julius Randle to beat the shot clock with 4:12 left proved to be a kickstart for himself and his team.

The crunch-time battle was on.

Hayward would posterize Randle to regain the lead out of a timeout moments later, but the Lakers big man would not be deterred. With the game winding down, he hit a series of floaters over Gobert, scoring eight points down the stretch to make things interesting.

That said, the Jazz had a hero of their own in Ingles, who hit two three-pointers in the final three minutes.

The first pushed the Jazz up by the score of 95-93, but Los Angeles hung in and a Randle bucket eventually had them up two with 1:09 left. After Gobert tied the game at 99 on a putback, Ingles’ heroics came back into play. First he forced a shot clock violation on Williams with just 31.8 ticks left.

On the ensuing play, he hit a three with 21.6 seconds left to make it 102-99. It was the dagger the Jazz needed to close out the game. After Randle and Gobert each made trips to the foul line, D’Angelo Russell took an ill-advised three with just under three seconds left and a chance to win, but missed everything.

The game was over and the Jazz had snapped a three-game skid.

Hayward’s 31 points were a game high. Meanwhile, Ingles, Boris Diaw and Shelvin Mack all hit double figures.

The Lakers were led by Randle’s career-high 25 points. Williams added 22.

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With the win, the Jazz improved to 19-13 on the year. They will resume play on Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers.