Lakers at Jazz
THE STORY: The Utah Jazz have been a different team at home than on the road and they will seek their sixth consecutive victory at EnergySolutions Arena on Wednesday night when they host the Los Angeles Lakers. Utah last opened 6-0 at home in 2008-09. In their first meeting on Dec. 27, the Lakers were completing their third game in three nights and drilled visiting Utah 96-71 to pick up their first victory. Kobe Bryant scored 26 and the Lakers turned a 10-point halftime lead into a rout with a 15-4 run in the third quarter. The Jazz will need to get better production from their starters if they hope to beat the Lakers this time. Utah got just 35 points from its starters, led by Derrick Favors’ eight. Bryant scored a season-high 48 points in a 99-83 victory over Phoenix on Tuesday. The Lakers have won seven in a row at home but are 0-3 on the road.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, KCAL (Lakers), ROOT Sports (Jazz)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (7-4): Bryant basically took over the game and the Suns went the final six minutes without a field goal as they were outscored 16-2 in that span. Bryant, who recorded the 108th 40-point game of his career and the first in the NBA this season, scored 13 of the Lakers’ final 15 points. Bryant mirrored the Lakers’ continuing struggles from 3-point range, going 0 for 3. The Lakers were 2 of 17 from beyond the arc.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (6-3): Al Jefferson has slimmed down and strengthened his body. The result has been a very strong start that continued Tuesday when he scored a season-high 30 points on 13-of-17 shooting and had 12 rebounds. “It was embarrassing to get beat like that,” Jefferson said of the first meeting with the Lakers. “We are a better team than the first time we played them, but we still got to come because they’re a great team and will be ready to play.”
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Utah is 6-4 in its last 10 regular-season home games against the Lakers.
2. Kobe Bryant is the Lakers’ leading scorer in 17 of the last 20 games against the Jazz.
3. Utah guard Raja Bell and Lakers guard Jason Kapono welcomed new babies on Tuesday. Bell’s wife gave birth to a boy, the couple’s third child. Kapono’s wife had twin daughters.