The game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night was close, you almost have to say that about any game that goes to overtime. However, this game was not a very fun one to watch – both teams appeared to run out of gas at the end, and the Jazz and Lakers combined for 177 points off of 175 total shots. (That’s pretty poor) Some bright spots for the Jazz were Paul Millsap, Josh Howard, Raja Bell, Derrick Favors, and Enes Kanter. These are the five guys who made sweet sweet music less cacophony than the rest against the Lakers.
After the jump – a break down of their play from last game!
Jazz Qunitet:
Paul Millsap: Paul Millsap is barely taller than the Lakers starting shooting guard, yet spent the entire night going up against 7 footers Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. And he took it to them, dropping 29 points (58 fg%) on them, grabbing 9 boards, and swiping away 3 steals. No blocks, but he did manage 1 assist, and only 2 fouls. I would have liked to have seen him get to the line more, but he never gets to the line. Just like in the last Lakers game, he was one of the only guys to show up.
Josh Howard: Howard continues to trend upwards, against the Cavaliers he had 17 points. On Wednesday night he finished with 18. He’s still not super efficient, but he did get to the line 5 times and went 2/3 from deep. He also had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and solid defense (which doesn’t really show up on the box score).
Raja Bell: This is the total "doesn’t really show up on the box score" type of guy. It’s hard to praise someone for their defense when his opponent scores 40 points, but to be fair, he did a way better job than anyone else on the team could have done on Kobe Bryant. Bell finished the game with 7 points (went 3 for 4 on the night, making half of his threes), 3 assists, and used all 6 of his fouls. He also played 33 minutes, which is the most he has played all season, except for the previous game @ Los Angeles where he played 35. Bravo Raja, you are getting some type of mojo back – but even that isn’t enough to help us against Kobe.
Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter: because they played 21 minutes combined, and scored a combined 7 points (50% shooting) and pulled down 9 rebounds. In more than twice their minutes Big Al Jefferson scored 11 points (29 fg%) and pulled down 11 rebounds. Jefferson is a nice guy, but he is habitually not showing up against the Lakers – and if you didn’t notice, our team kind of ends up having to play them in make it or break it situations. Also Denes Fanters had a combined 2 fouls during this game, so it’s not like foul trouble was a problem . . .