Utah Jazz beat Los Angeles Lakers 105-103, Derrick Favors gives LA buzzer beating two thumbs throw down

It's always special when the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers. My Jazz fandom was birthed around these match-ups. And the sometimes one-sided rivalry looks to continue for a while with these young guys (who seem to be able to do it by their own against LA).

The beginning of this game was sluggish and predicated by a lot of misses. Both teams went on runs with Nick Young (21 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) Chris Kaman (19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks), Jordan Farmar (16 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals) and Jordan Hill (16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists) keeping the reeling Lakers in step with our Jazz. It should be noted that the Lakers were playing without Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, and Steve Blake. (You could argue that two or three of those guys are first ballot HOFers) It should also be noted that the Lakers lost.

The second half was much tighter with both teams taking leads, and squandering them. The game looked like it was in the Jazz' hands, but the Lakers tied it up twice in the waning seconds -- until:

Derrick Favors' follow slam with 2.1 seconds left gives Jazz win over Lakers. BOX SCORE: http://t.co/v9JPAymsn5 pic.twitter.com/ycM6L7MhjX

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 28, 2013

IN YER FACE!

For the Jazz it really was the usual suspects producing tonight, Gordon Hayward had 24 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Derrick Favors had a double double with 18 points, 14 rebounds, 1, assist, 1 steal, and one game winning dunk. Trey Burke had a 14 point, 7 assist night. He had 7 turn overs as well, which is usually how many turn overs he gets on an entire four game road trip. Marvin Williams finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, and nearly lost the game down the stretch on some crucial misses. Alec Burks led the bench with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.

Three positives:

1. Derrick Favors game winner, duh. Huge dunk for him.
2. The Jazz made free throws, 16/20, that's 80%! Improvement!
3. Beating the Lakers, any day of the week, is satisfying for real Jazz fans

Three negatives:

1. Still almost lost to the Lakers without Bryant, Nash, Gasol, Blake -- and with Nick Young fouled out with 3+ minutes left to play
2. The defense needs a lot of work still, as the Lakers shot 50.0 fg%
3. John Lucas III played 13 minutes tonight, went 0/6 overall and 0/3 from downtown, and finished with 0 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, 0 blocks, and 1 steal. And somehow he was +11 in +/-. I think this means the Mayans were right -- one of their sun tablet calendars was about old guys doing nothing and good things happening, right?

WOOO! Sure, we won a game in a year where we'd like to tank -- but beating the Lakers is always fun!