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Utah Jazz Vs. Los Angeles Lakers Recap by Scotty Mac

Written by Spencer | 11 February 2010

If I had to come up with one word to describe this game, that word would be disappointment.  Ya, the Jazz were on the back end of a back-to-back against the Lakers, but I believe all of us thought that they were starting to turn a corner and become an elite Western Conference team.  It did not look like that at all on Wednesday night at the ESA.  It never seems to get easier against the Lakers, even with Kobe and Bynum out we still can't get over that hump.  When your leading scorer is Andrei Kirilenko with only 17 points, you can't pretty much assume that the Jazz did not get a win.  Looking at the numbers kind of says it all.  How about we start with the dismal Jazz free-throw shooting, 13-25 for 52%.  I don't care what team you are, you are professional basketball players playing at HOME, you must hit at least 80% of your free throws at all times regardless of back-to-back games.
We could break this game down and say how many bad things the Jazz did because it's true, they did a lot of pathetic things like missing that many free throws.  However, some players continue to play well and show signs of hope.  One of those guys being Wesley Matthews, ended up with 13 points and 3 steals.  Why can't he be starting instead of Ronnie Brewer against a Lakers team where we need instant office.  The Lakers numbers weren't THAT much better than ours, the Jazz just got out hustled by the Lakers length and lack of offensive execution.  After the All-Star break we start a road trip and it will be very telling for the Jazz if they can be productive on the road.  Time will tell with this team, we can't rush to conclusions yet as there is a lot of basketball to be played.  They do have the potential to climb the ladder to be the 2nd best team in the West.  They also have the potential on occasion to slip down to the 8th spot where they landed last year.  In David Locke's words, "I hate the frickin Lakers!"  Had the game been a bit closer last night, I'm sure the Lakers fans would have bothered me a little more, but since we had nothing to cheer for and they did, it was a good night for them.  It's hard to talk smack when your team is getting lit up.
Jazz will play the Lakers one more time before the Playoffs start in LA and we will have to see if we can just split the season series.
Now is the time for them to turn a major corner and take it to the next level if they want to become an elite team in this league.
UTAH JAZZ
STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
Andrei Kirilenko, SF 36 8-14 1-3 0-0 1 4 5 2 2 4 2 2 -2 17
Carlos Boozer, PF 34 4-13 0-0 3-9 1 9 10 1 0 1 1 3 -19 11
Mehmet Okur, C 26 3-10 0-2 0-2 2 2 4 1 0 0 2 2 -4 6
Deron Williams, PG 39 3-9 0-2 5-8 3 6 9 10 3 0 3 1 -4 11
Ronnie Brewer, SG 25 1-4 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 -13 2
BENCH MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
Kyle Korver, SG 7 0-3 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 -2 2
Paul Millsap, PF 18 4-5 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 0 0 0 3 5 -10 9
Ronnie Price, PG 16 1-3 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 -9 4
Sundiata Gaines, G 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 +1 0
C.J. Miles, SF 15 3-6 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 3 2 -15 6
Wesley Matthews, G 19 6-7 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 +1 13
Kyrylo Fesenko, C 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 +1 0
TOTALS FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
33-75 2-13 13-25 9 28 37 19 10 6 16 19 81
44.0% 15.4% 52.0%
Fast break points: 12 Points in the paint: 36 Team TO ( points off ): 17 (17)
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